Dueltale
by GlitchWarrior
Summary: What if the surface in Undertale was just the world of Yu-Gi-Oh? It's Battle City with UT characters and modern cards!
1. The Prince of Duel Monsters

**Chapter One**

 **The Prince of Duel Monsters**

"got everything you need, kiddo?"

Asriel Dreemur hefted his backpack onto his shoulders. He was almost certain that he did, indeed, have everything he needed.

"Sans, you shouldn't worry about me. I mean, come on, what would I be missing?

The youngest of the royal Dreemurs, Asriel was always full of energy. If there'd been a sign of "roughousing in the castle," it was probably his doing. The fluffy Boss Monster would never give up on what he was doing.

"i'll check your bag, just in case," the skeleton told him. If one were to describe Sans in three words, they would have to say that he was a "Prepared Pun-filled-"

"LAZYBONES!"

Neither the prince nor skeleton could forget who was speaking. The person who had just insulted Sans was his taller, younger brother, Papyrus, a self-proclaimed cool dude and master chef.

"SANS, WE WERE SUPPOSED TO HELP THE HUMANS BUILD THEIR DECKS AN HOUR AGO! HOW CAN YOU EXPLAIN YOURSELF?"

"uhh, i was helping the prince, paps. it's kind of my calling...whoa, you have 'goat' to be 'kid'ding me."

"Sans..."

"i'm just saying, this deck is as lame as paper. 'couse, that may be because it _is_ paper."

"SANS, HE IS PROBABLY JUST TRYING TO BUILD A DECK THAT IS AS GREAT AS ME."

"No, Papyrus, it's just... he's right. It _is_ really lame." The Prince of Monsters cast a sorrowful look at his Deck, browsing through his cards. "I mean, come on, I have Mushroom Man! Cyber Commando! Only four wizards, but I have Magicians unite! Doesn't that at least sound a little troubling?"

"HMM, THAT DOES POSE A PROBLEM, YOUR HIGHNESS..."

"Don't call me that.:

"...BUT I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, HAVE A SOLUTION! I SHALL SIMPLY GIVE YOU SOME OF MY CARDS. THAT WILL MAKE YOUR DECK BETTER! NYEH HEH HEH!"

Papyrus then proceeded to give Asriel twenty cards- all very good cards, as he saw. What he smelled, though, gave him second thoughts. The cards had the thick aroma of home-overcooked spaghetti; a delicatseen dish that everyone loved Papyrus making, but feared to try. Asriel, along with his best friends Frisk and Chara, had once speculated whether it could be used as a murder weapon- Chara's idea, of course. However, the three children had never seen the results of the experiment, because Asriel's mother, Toriel, had prevented them from giving the dish to a convict in prison, stating that even he needn't give his life for the sake of Papyrus' cooking.

"Uhh... Thanks, Papyrus..." Asriel eventually decided, finally accepting the fact that he was going to have to buy protective sleeves, and then potentially nuke them with air freshener.

Suddenly, the door to the house flew down with a loud "CRASH!" that rocked the streets. Standing where the door once was, wearing a dark green jacket and denim jeans, was what appeared to be a teenage girl- except it wasn't. This particular teenager was also part fish and missing one eye, covered by a patch. Her sapphire-colored scales were still visible through the dust of her entrance.

 _Undyne._

"Hey, punks! I was supposed to meet you guys at the town hall, like, three hours ago! The tournament's already begun, so you guys should be glad you pre- registered..."

"...registered?"

 **TO BE CONTINUED**


	2. And so it begins

Chapter Two

And so it begins...

"Sans! I can't believe you!"

"You're supposed to register _before_ you start dueling!"

"WHAT DID I TELL YOU? LAZYBONES!'

"hey, it's actually kind of funny. maybe i could just put it on my grillby's tab?"

"Sans," said Chara, getting up from the couch, "that _wasn't_ funny. I was seriously thinking of punching you in the face, right there!"

"c'mon, kid," Sans replied. "don't you have a sense of humor? geez, that's intense."

One needn't look at the girl's face to tell that she was serious. Anyone who knew Chara knew that messing around wasn't in her best interests, particularly if that messing around was coming from Sans. If she had to either eat Papyrus' pasta for the rest of her life or endure Sans' jokes, she would have taken her chances with the spaghetti.

"Dude, you can't enter the Battle City tournament without registration! What were you thinking?"

"it's more of what i _wasn't_ thinking, kid. see, i didn't even think i had to register to enter."

"THEN WHAT WERE YOU DOING WHEN WE ALL WENT AND REGISTERED, YOU IDIOT?"

"i thought we were going to get your license picture taken. course, you probably aren't physically fit to drive, with your muscles weighing "air" pounds, so i should have guessed..."

"Well, it's too late now," Asriel pointed out. "I guess it'll just be me, Undyne, Frisk, Chara, and Paps in the tourney..."

"And Alphys, too," Undyne added. "She finally made up her mind and registered yesterday, so she's in, too."

"Finally," Chara sighed. "I was getting sick of her reluctance to do anything that might have the slightest hint of danger... So, what kinds of decks did you guys make? I went with my Red-eyes deck, so I'm ready."

Undyne smiled. "For me, it'll probably be my Sharks or Mermails, I just don't know..." She flipped a coin. "Heads. Sharks it is! What about you, Az'?

"I went with my own deck, here. It's not much, but any deck is better than no deck... Frisk?"

Frisk was the most silent of the bunch, a trait that Chara preferred, because it meant Frisk couldn't bother her much. She simply smiled and held up an Elemental Hero deck.

"HEROES, EH? EXCELLENT CHOICE! I THINK I'LL DO SKULL SERVANTS, BECAUSE THAT DECK GIVES ME AN ARMY OF SKELETONS TO LISTEN TO ME! NYEH HEH HEH!"

"So," Asriel asked his comrades, human and monster alike, "Are we ready for this?"

Asriel's question was answered by a "YESSSS!" from Undyne, Papyrus, and Chara, and a simple nod from Frisk. It was clear that it was time.

"uhh, hey, before you go, how about one last duel, kid? for old time's sake."

Asriel turned to Sans, smiling.

"You're on."

To be continued...

* * *

 **Okay, I realise this is a bit of an unconventional story, but hear me out, it's gonna get better.**

 **I have one question... Do you guys think Sans should use Blue-eyes or something else? Leave your choice in the reviews, or I'll just go B.E. right away.**


	3. Bad Times with Blue Eyes!

Chapter Three

Bad Times with Blue Eyes!

SANS: 4000

ASRIEL: 4000

"i hope you're ready, for this, kid. i don't wanna do too much here."

"Bring it on, Sans!" Asriel cried, evidently realizing his hand was actually pretty good. The cards Papyrus had given him were Monarchs, powerful monsters whose effects activated when Tribute Sumoned, and Vassals, monsters who served as their servants. He had probably gotten the idea of giving Asriel Monarchs from his father being, well, a monarch himself.

"guess i'll start, then. one facedown card and a set monster. don't try to destroy it. it's not a good idea."

"You just want me to think that, don't you?" Asriel smirked as he drew his card. It wasn't a very good one, but it could still work...

"Ready? I summon Mushroom Man to the field and equip it with Malevolent Nuzzler!" As he spoke, a giant mushroom with eyes and arms appeared. The Equip Spell began to do its work, and soon, Mushroom Man was surrounded in dark energy.

"You see, Malevolent Nuzzler takes one of my monsters, and gives it a 700-point power boost. So instead of 800 attack points, my Mushroom Man has 1500! Now, he'll attack your monster!"

Mushroom Man lunged forward, striking at Sans' set monster. A large, white rock appeared- and then dissapeared, as soon as it came.

"I set two cards and end my turn! Show me what you've got!"

"buddy, i told you it wasn't a good idea to attack my monster, and now i'll prove it. the card you destroyed was the white stone of ancients, and when it's gone, the turn's end lets me summon my ace from my deck. now, say hello... to blue eyes white dragon!"

The image of the Whit Stone of Ancients re-appeared, with a long crack forming across it. Out of the crack emerged an enourmous, majestic dragon, with eyes that shone like sapphires and scales that were almost as white as Asriel's fur itself, or the bones of his opponent. Asriel was almost immediately feeling stupid for not heeding the warning that Sans had given him.

"ok, now i draw, and-"

"Go, Trap Card!"

"you didn't even let me-"

"Ignore that, and look at this! Threatening Roar! This trap's gonna keep you from attacking me this turn!"

"but I can still summon, so i'll summon rider of the storm winds, and then tune my rider with my blue-eyes!"

"OH, MY!" Papyrus exclaimed, having completely forgotten that Undyne and the two humans were in the car already. "YOUR HIG- I MEAN, PRINCE ASRIEL! SANS IS PERFORMING A SYNCHRO SUMMON!"

"spot on, papyrus- it's azure-eyes silver dragon in defense mode. then i'll play melody of awakening dragon, discarding a card to add my second blue-eyes and my blue-eyes alternative white dragon to my hand. then i can special summon my alternative dragon by revealing the regular one. then, while your trap keeps me from attacking, i can still use effects, and that means my blue-eyes alternative can take out your mushroom man instead of attacking. now i end my turn."

Asriel was in shock. Not only had Sans summoned two powerful monsters in one turn, but he had also destroyed Mushroom Man without even attacking, slipping by Asriel's Threatening Roar card. Sans always found loopholes that let him slip through his opponent's strategies. Blue-Eyes Alternative White Dragon, Asriel realized, could probably not attack at all and still cause a problem. And as for Azure-Eyes... Asriel would've summoned his new card, Zaborg, the Thunder Monarch, and used its effect to destroy Sans' dragons, but the Silver Dragon protected Sans' field, at least until Asriel ended his turn. But if he did, Azure-Eyes had another special ability- when Sans would start his next turn, he would get to summon a Normal Monster from his Graveyard, meaning not only would Blue-Eyes White Dragon return, but Asriel's Life Points would definitely take a little more than a beating. The point was, there was one card he _needed_ to draw to win. However, the odds of drawing it were one in thirty-four; a rather low chance, considering the problem he was going through...

He drew, slowly.

He began to grin.

He had gotten _that spell._

"Alright! Here goes Swords of Revealing Light!"

Bright, piercing swords fell around the battlefield, blocking the two dragons. Swords of Revealing Light was a spell that, while well known, was still a trick that anyone- and I mean pretty much ANYONE- could pull off. The card would hold off Sans' monsters for three turns- a delay that would give him the absolute advantage.

But two turns later, Asriel's barrier began to weaken. His cards were crap- Zaborg had fallen to Card Destruction, and the only cards hin is hand that may be of any use were Double or Nothing and The Monarchs Stormforth. Then Sans dropped his bomb.

"i play polymerization, combining my three blue-eyes to form blue-eyes ultimate dragon! now i end my turn, and your swords are gone. next turn, my ultimate dragon's gonna get you dunked on."

Asriel began to panic, but reached down and grabbed his card anyway.

 _Caius!_

"It's the end, Sans! I play "The Monarchs Stormforth! This card lets me Tribute Summon using _your_ monster! I sacrifice your Azure-eyes to Tribute Summon Caius, the Shadow Monarch! Next, Caius' ability banishes your Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon. Now, I attack you directly with Caius!

"i'll just drop my magic cylinder. caius attacks you instead."

That idiot. Magic Cylinder negated an attack and then dealt the monster's owner the damage, but...

"HA! Since you just negated my attack, I'll play my Quick Spell... Double or Nothing! This card allows my monster whose attack was just negated to attack again with twice the force! Now, Caius! Wipe out his Life Points!"

Asriel's Shadow Monarch created a sphere of dark energy in his hand, and threw it at the skeleton. The blast knocked Sans back- hard, I might add - and threw him into a wall. The numbers on his duel disk went from four-thousand to zero in about three seconds.

Sans was still grinning. "well, kid, that's one way to strike a home run. you just pulled that card out of nowhere."

Papyrus was beaming from ear to... actually, you get the idea. "WELL DONE, PRINCE ASRIEL!" he exclaimed. He seemed really happy that Asriel had won the duel using his cards.

"Guys," Undyne screamed from the car, her already loud yelling voice having hit an all-time high. "We need to get going, or we won't even stand a chance at getting into the finals!"

Asriel and Papyrus had completely forgotten that the tournament had already begun. Not wanting to dawdle any longer, they raced to Papyrus' sports car, which had enough room for all five duelists. Papyrus put his key in the ignition, and let it rip.

* * *

 _ **So, you may have noticed that I skipped over a few turns, but i was pressed for time by my brothers. However, the chapter is still twice as long as the first two, and they'll only get longer from here!**_

 ** _-The Author_**


	4. The Science of a Ring

So, uh, this chapter is pretty long, huh? Don't worry about it, because I've finally thought of a major plot device! Read on to find out!

* * *

Chapter Four

The Science of a Ring

"Hello? Where _are_ those guys? I, uh, told them to m-meet me here a while back, so why aren't they, um, here?"

It would not have come as much as a surprise that Dr. Alphys seemed alone. She had called Undyne about two hours ago, and her fishy friend was nowhere in sight, along with Papyrus, Sans, Asriel, and her two human friends. Plus, the town square was now empty, as everyone had rushed off to duel someone.

While Alphys felt most comfortable wearing a lab coat, people thought that a lizard girl walking the streets was weird enough, and besides, dueling was best done in a comfy, casual outfit. Alphys in particular was wearing a red and white checkered shirt, buttoned up to the collar, as well as a pair of jeans and sneakers. She could've been not too pleased with the wardrobe change, but she was actually okay with it- even to the point of wanting to wear clothes like this to the lab and then her coat the rest of the day. She was taking the week off, because dueling waits for no one.

And her deck, a powerful mix of wizards and warriors, seemed very much based on that of the great Yugi Muto, who was probably the greatest duelist to have ever lived. There were the "LV" Silents, monsters who only grew more powerful as the duel progressed. There were the Royal Knights, soldiers who combined their strength by summoning one another. And then there was the unstoppable Dark Paladin, a fusion between a soldier and a spellcaster who brought his foes down with one fell swoop of his sword-staff.

She wanted to show someone her strength. She wanted to show that she could strategize as well as the next person, if not better. But there was nobody around to show off the powerhouse she'd concocted to. She wandered down an alley, looking for someone- _anyone-_ who could relate.

"Well, look what we have here." Alphys turned around, locating the speaker in an instant. It was Ryou Bakura- or at least, that's what he looked like. His personality seemed quite a bit darker, and he was wearing a strange object on a string around his neck. Alphys recalled Yugi's words on Bakura:

"Be careful when it comes to Bakura. He may seem nice, but bring the spirit of the Millennium Ring into the mix, and all turns on it's head! He turns evil, and you're not facing the same guy younthought you were!"

Alphys had always wanted to know what made this "Millennium Item" tick. She had asked Yugi if she could borrow his Puzzle, just for a glimpse into its secret. He had, of course, said no, but maybe Bakura would be a different story.

"Umm... Hi, Bakura! Can I s-see your ring for a quick second? I..I just wanna look at it..."

Bakura did not seem so generous. "I'd rather you just disappear, you rotten lizard. I have my own agenda to follow... unless you were to defeat me, which has only happened once, and it was by that meddling Yugi. Now, I suggest you get out of my way, before something bad happens to you."

Alphys simply stood there in the alleyway. Normally she would be running back to the lab and regretting ever entering the tournament, but this was no average duel. No, she was dueling for the sake of science this time, and she was going to win at any cost.

"Br-bring it on, Ryou."

ALPHYS-4000

BAKURA-4000

"Very well," Bakura said in his sinister tone. "The sooner I defeat you, the sooner your soul becomes lost in the Shadow Realm, and the sooner you regret every mistake you've ever made in your life- this being the biggest of them. Now, I'll play one monster face down and activate Nightmare's Steelcage. Now neither of us can attack the other for two turns. Your move."

"Ready? I'll, uh, summon my Queen's Knight and set two cards, so now it's your turn again, but I can probably surprise you, right?"

"i tink you'll be more surprised," said the spirit of the Ring, "that in this duel, your cards are not all that are on the line. Take a look around; we've begun a Shadow Game now!" I shall sacrifice my face-down Sangan to summon the Earl of Demise. Next, Sangan's special ability lets me add a monster with, at most, 1500 attack points to my hand. My Headless Knight will do. Finally, I play Polymerization to fuse my earl with my knight! I now Fusion Summon the Duke of Demise! I now set one card and end my turn."

Alphys looked at the indetructable monster, a card which would cost Bakura life points, but was indestructible in battle. She could probably wait him out and let his duke drain his life points, five hundred per turn, for eight turns. But chances were, with such a powerful monster, she wouldn't get that long.

"Umm... I'll draw... oh, goody! I s-switch my Queen's Knight into defense mode and summon my King's Knight in attack mode. Then, since Queen's Knight was around when I summoned him, I can special summon my Jack's Knight from my deck... Now my turn ends, and your cage is g-gone! Isn't that nice, huh?"

Bakura smiled at Alphys and her uncertainty, knowing that with her terrible attitude, she would never get far. "Look at you," he said, grinning. "You call yourself a Duelist, but you can't even duel your way out of an iron cage. It's pathetic, really. Now I will draw..." He grinned, wider and wider as he looked upon his card, one that could win him the duel. "First, I pay five hyndred life points to keep my duke on the field. I now banish Sangan, Headless Knight, and Earl of Demise! I now Special Summon the one that will cause your demise... _**Dark Necrofear**!_ "

She felt doomed.

"Now I think it's time for my duke to attack your King's Knight! That's four hundred life points down, and following that will be the death of your Jack's Knight by Dark Necrofear!"

Alphys knew she had to act. "I, uh... Aha! I can activate my trap card- Magic Cylinder! Now, um, your monster attacks you, right?"

This maneuver really bothered Bakura, as was evident by the face he now made. He sighed and ended his turn.

ALPHYS-3600

BAKURA-1800

Alphys drew, scared that she might not draw a good card. The squeal of happiness that followed spoke otherwise. She was at a loss for words, so she quickly threw the card into her Spell/Trap zone and ended her turn, pointing at Bakura to signal that her turn was over while she jumped up and down with absolute glee.

Bakura drew. "I see my force has caused you to go insane. No matter. I pay my life points to keep my Duke in play, and-"

Alphys finally found words to describe her imminent victory. She flipped over her card and grinned.

 _Ring of Destruction._

"It's over, Bakura, Queen's Knight will be destroyed by my ring, and 1500 life points from each of us will go down with her! However, you only h-have 1300, right? You know wh-what this means, right?

To make a long story short, BANG.

ALPHYS-2100

BAKURA-0000

"Umm, may I see that ring now, please?"

The Shadow Realm itself was beginning to eat away at Bakura,the Shadow Game lost on his part. But the spirit of the Millennium Ring had one more trick up his sleeve.

"Fine, you may see it. Keep it, for all I care. Just... **_be careful what you wish for, reptile!"_**

Alphys didn't have time to react before the Ring went flying at her-

-and then it all went black.

* * *

Next time on Dueltale

So, Asriel and the gang meet up with Alphys, and have a nice chat. Undyne realizes something's not quite right with the girl, and tries to find answers. Meanwhile, the zombie duelist Bonz takes on Chara, and the young girl has to deal with the undead version of her favorite card- the Red-eyes Zombie Dragon!  
What will happen next?


	5. The Call of the Red

**Well, this took forever to get out. First I was out of town, and then my brother tripped the power cable while I was writing. Here's an extra-length chapter to make up for it. There's gonna be some crazy stuff going down in this episode, like the first official Battle City match, the introductions of Yugi and Marik (through small scenes), and a few familiar moments from the series.**

* * *

Chapter 5

The Call of the Red

"HMM, THIS TOWN SEEMS QUITE FULL... SO IT MUST BE THE TOURNAMENT AREA! IT'S NOT AT ALL SURPRISING THAT WE MADE IT HERE IN ONLY TWO HOURS!"

Papyrus seemed overjoyed that the quintet of duelists had finally made it. Chara was pleased, too, because after two hours of potty breaks, stopping by Grillby's to get some chili, and filling the car up with gas (in more ways than one), it really starts to get to you. She was just relieved that things were okay.  
"Wow, is this place crowded! There must be a heated duel going on..." She pushed her way through the crowds, not noticing that she was getting farther and farther from her group. Honestly, she didn't care, because she wanted to know what was all the fuss.

When Chara made it to the middle of the group, she saw it. A young man with vibrant, spiked hair, evidently more experienced than herself, was on one side of the field, guarded by two Magnet Warriors. On the other side was a tall, lanky, and pale-faced man with sunken eyes and a grin on his face.

"You only think I'm defenseless, Yugi!" the pale man cackled. "Whilst the pieces of Exodia are all part of one monster, they can also be used as individual cards. I now summon the head of Exodia in defense mode!"

The spiky-haired kid, obviously named Yugi, smiled. "You fell for my trap, Rare Hunter! I activate Chain Destruction, destroying any Exodia heads in your deck!"

"No!" the 'Rare Hunter' screamed. "You... you..."

"That's right... I've stopped you from summoning Exodia, haven't I?"

Chara was amazed. This duelist was good. He might even have skills beyond her level, because when he drew his new card, he was really smiling.

"I now sacrifice Alpha the Magnet Warrior! I Tribute Summon my Summoned Skull! Now, my other warrior, Beta, will destroy your Exodia head, and Summoned Skull can then attack you directly!"

Yugi's monster fired magical lightning towards the Rare Hunter, blasting him with a powerful _ZAP._ It was over.

* * *

Meanwhile, Undyne and Frisk were questioning Chara's absence.

"I mean, where do you think a half-human, half-demon girl would disappear off to?" Undyne wondered aloud. "Come on, this is crazy!"

Frisk, as I already mentioned, was not the most talkative of duelists. She simply shook her head. "I have no idea. She's not even much of the type to wander."

Asriel and Papyrus had gone off to find duels of their own, unaware of the missing child. Undyne and Frisk seemed a bit more concerned, however.

"Well, she can't be in too much trouble, right?"

"Hey! Guys, I m-made it!"

The sound of Alphys' voice made Undyne sigh with relief. She didn't need _two_ missing friends to worry about. But something... Something was definitely wrong with the girl. She couldn't put her finger on it, but Alphys had an aura of meanace around her; she just seemed...off.

"Alphys, mind if I ask you something, in private?"

* * *

"Well, it looks like there's another weakling for me to pick off."

A boy with a face akin to Sans' skull was staring into Chara's eyes. Bonz was,in no way, a bad duelist in terms of skill, but his personality was much to be hated. The two had begun what would be Chara's first duel in Battle City, and she was prepared to beat this freak show.

"I summon my Master Kyonshee, in attack mode." At Bonz' command, a zombie, dressed in a karate outfit and with a spell tag covering his face, appeared. If Chara was scared of a monster with 1750 attack points, she would have quaked in fear right then and there.

"I now set two cards in my backrow," he said, "and end my turn."

"Not a bad move, Bonz. Probably better than your monster's breath... which, in turn, is better than yours. I activate Cards of the Red Stone, discarding my Red-Eyes Black Dragon in order to draw two cards. Next, I summon the Black Stone of Legend. Finally, I use its effect, sacrificing it in order to summon my Red-Eyes Black Flare Dragon from my deck!"

"You think you're so smart, huh?" Bonz remarked. "Well, try this- the Horn of Heaven trap! Since you just summoned a monster, I can sacrifice mine to destroy it!"

"Oh, contrare, skullface. Since my dragon was just destroyed and sent to the Graveyard, I can bring it back and Special Summon my Red-eyes Retro Dragon from my hand! Now, my dragon attacks you directly."

" **BATTLE FADER**!"

Battle Fader was a monster who, when a direct attack was declared, could be summoned to end the Battle Phase. Had Chara known any curse words, she would've muttered them under her breath.

"Ugh. I activate Meteor of Destruction to deal you 1000 points of direct damage and end my turn."

CHARA: 4000

BONZ: 3000

"And I activate the Call of the Haunted! I use this card to revive Kyonshee. Now, prepare for your worst nitghmare. I sacrifice Master Kyonshee to Special Summon Red-eyes Zombie Dragon in attack mode, and follow it up by sacrificing Battle Fader in favor of Vampire Dragon!"

Chara was a lot less focused on the blood-sucking dragon and more concerned about the... thing standing next to it. The Red-Eyes Zombie Dragon was barely recognizable as a Red-Eyes Black Dragon. Its appearance almost looked... melty. Its flesh looked ready to rot right off of its bones, and it had many other traits that I could not bear to write. Long story short, Chara felt like it was a disgrace to her favorite card.

"Heh... Surprised? Your own dragon may appear as powerful, but this is an improved version on the original. Plus, being a zombie just gives it all the versatility as my other cards!" Bonz cackled. " Now, my Vampire Dragon attacks Red-Eyes Black Flare Dragon! This maneuver may destroy my Vampire Dragon, as they both have an ATK of 2400, but, since Vampire Dragon is destroyed, I can add a level four or lower monster from my deck to my hand. I choose the Snake Hair. Now, my Zombie Red-Eyes! Attack her Retro Dragon! Then, I use Polymerization to fuse my Snake Hair with the Dragon Zombie in my hand, Fusion Summoning my Great Mammoth of Goldfine! Your move. "

Chara stood there, stunned. She was appalled that, not only had Bonz summoned two tough monsters in one turn, he had wiped out her field with a ruined card. She drew, without speaking... and then smiled.

"Ready? I start with Brain Control, taking your Red-Eyes Zombie Dragon at the cost of 800 life points. Next, I summon Black Metal Dragon, and use its special ability to link it to Red-Eyes Zombie Dragon, increasing its attack power by 600 points. Now, I attack your mammoth with your dragon!"

CHARA: 3200

BONZ: 2200

"Big deal, ginger-cheeks," Bonz, said, smirking at his imminent victory. "When you end your turn, I will regain control of Red-Eyes, and, with the attack boost you've given it, you won't survive my next turn!"

Chara laughed. "Ha, you're funny, acting like you're gonna _get_ another turn. Your own Red-Eyes Zombie Dragon has an anti-Zombie effect, and that's that, if it destroys a zombie, then I get that zombie. Simple, right? Too bad you hadn't laid down something like DNA Surgery, I could've been taken out a lot quicker."

This simple revalation of his card's own ability working against him sent Bonz into a panic. He seemed like he had just let everything fall apart when he hadn't even played his own card's ability. Actually, it wasn't what he _had_ done, but what he _hadn't;_ he had just drawn DNA Surgery the previous turn, and hadn't played it because he hadn't thought it was necessary.

"But...You...Wait...No...!"

"Now, the Great Mammoth of Goldfine will attack you directly, and since it has 2200 attack points, you lose, Bonz!"

The golden mammoth was, one moment, perfectly still. The next, it was ramming into Bonz and his life points. Chara watched in satisfaction as the score now read:

CHARA: 3200

BONZ: 0000

...and indicating her win. She stepped towards him, only to hear his tears, and his sobbing. "No.. it's just not fair... I never wanted it to end like this... I...People always make fun of my face, so I wanted to get back at them... I'm just a terrible person, and this is what I get for it..."

Chara suddenly felt a wave of emotion fly over her. She remembered, when she and Frisk had confronted Alphys after Mettaton had tried to kill them, Alphys had sounded just the same. She smiled at Bonz- not a creepy, melty, demonic smile, but a friendly, somewhat proud grin.

"Hey, don't be so upset." She looked at her opponent thoughtfully, then continued. "I've faced some tough duelists, but you're only the second guy whose skills rivaled mine; the first being my old partner, Frisk. And you've got some strategies that would even make her tremble."

Chara made her scary face for a second, telling Bonz that, just maybe, there were people who had scarier faces than either of them. "If you want to understand how to win, you might also have to understand someone else. I know how you feel. Different. Spiteful of other human beings. But that doesn't change the fact that people can change. I mean, I once tried to commit suicide by jumping down a hole, and eventually wound up making tons of friends- one of them, I might add, being an actual person. We can all change, Bonz. We can be friends _(Oh, great, now I'm sounding like Frisk or Asriel. Oh well.)._ You just have to accept my offer."

Bonz stopped crying, and looked at Chara. His eyes met hers, and while they were the exact same color as those of her monsters- red- they seemed full of both compassion and, to a much lesser extent, friendship. That was all he'd needed to see to confirm it.

"Thanks, Chara," he said, in a calmer tone. "Hey, if you make it to the finals, I want you to play my card. Keep it, actually. Battle City rules oblige you to keep it. My locator card's yours, too. Just don't forget about our duel... it was actually the best one I've ever played."

Chara simply winked, and then, without another word, the two duelists separated.

* * *

"So... It seems that there are more duelists than I'd thought there'd be," said Marik Ishtar, a rougish figure standing on the deck of a boat. "No matter," he continued. "Soon, Obelisk the Tormentor will be back in my grasp, and the power of the Pharaoh will be mine!"

"Master Marik..." A robed figure walked onto the deck. "I sense another dark presence in this city. Shall we... remove this threat?"

"Leave those feelings, Odion. You see a threat. What I see... is a potential ally.


	6. Bone of Brotherhood

So, this episode is less about the duel and more about the development of the villains. I realize that the duel is tiny, but I really wanted to get back to the development. Capiche?

* * *

Chapter 6

Bone of Brotherhood

Seto Kaiba stood outside of the small house on Morrow Street, the neighborhood where his target lived. If this guy really _did_ have even one Blue-Eyes, it would be gone in an instant. Ever since Pegasus printed more (but still, not many) copies of the most powerful normal monster in the game, he'd vowed to get them all, to ensure that none could be used against him. Plus, any copies that made it away were in pieces when they left his hands.

Solomon Muto had been his first target, back when only four copies of the card existed. After he had been defeated by Yugi, the elder Muto had let Yugi hold onto the very card that Kaiba had been trying to destroy. Yugi, of all people! He felt like it was an insult to the Blue-Eyes White Dragon, to still be with the Mutos. And now, there were one hundred of them. It was sickening.

Kaiba had already obtained seventy-four through brute force, sales, and flat-out cheating. He didn't let anyone know that he had done so; he had used Kaiba Corp. tech to wipe the memories of the duelists he got the cards from, as if they had never even _seen_ a Blue-Eyes.

And now he was here for seventy-five and seventy-six. Maybe even seventy-seven. He had just heard a kid who looked like a goat talking about how he had defeated a Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon. That would warrant the user owning at least two Blue-Eyes, as well as at least one alternative. After holding up the child by his collar, he made the youngster tell him the residence of this "Sans the Skeleton." Kaiba was ready to ask for what was rightfully his.

And he wasn't taking no for an answer.

* * *

"Master Marik," said Odion, lost in thought. "We have reached land."

Marik grinned. "Well done, Odion. We probably wouldn't have arrived until tomorrow if we hadn't rushed things."

"Sir," Odion asked, " is it possible that this other darkness could be one of the Millennium Items?"

"Undoubtedly. I have only felt a presence this strong from the Millennium Ring."

"Shall we find the wielder of the item?"

"I shall take care of that myself," Marik told him. "You just worry about getting us a set of Duel Disks, because we're running out."

"...Yes, Master Marik."

* * *

Papyrus saw the man walking into his house. He noted that he was wearing a Duel Disk, and wondered, for a split second, if he had thought Sans was in the tournament. He decided to check it out.

"hey, cut it out, will ya? i'm not in the tournament, man."

"Save it, bonehead. You have cards that I want."

"i, uh, have no idea what you're talking about."

"WHAT'S ALL THIS, THEN?"

"hi, bro. how's it going?"

"Save it," Kaiba ordered. "Your brother has cards that I want, and I intend to get them."

Papyrus shuddered. "YOU INTEND TO JUST TAKE MY BROTHER'S CARDS? I CAN'T LET THAT HAPPEN. YOU AND I SHALL DUEL, RIGHT NOW! WINNER DECIDES WHAT HAPPENS WITH SANS' CARDS!"

Kaiba smiled. "Nice thought. How's about we give you a restriction, though. You have to use _his_ deck. And I'm allowed to make that decision because I'm your host."

"wait... you're..."

"That's right," he declared. "I'm Seto Kaiba, and you're someone who should back down now, while you still have the chance."

"don't do it, paps, " Sans begged Papyrus. "it's not worth it anyways."

"THAT'S PREPOSTEROUS!"Papyrus decided. "WE MAY HAVE OUR DIFFERENCES, BUT YOU ARE MY BROTHER, AND THAT MEANS I SHOULD DO ANYTHING TO STOP THIS MAN!"

Kaiba laughed. "Then it's settled. I'm going to get the cards. You don't stand a chance anyway."

* * *

"...and I NEVER find you alone in a big city! What's up with that, Alph?"

Undyne had been drilling Alphys with questions for ten minutes now, and the reptillian scientist was only getting more suspicious. Trying to dodge Undyne's questions, asking whether she'd be leaving anytime soon, backing away from Undyne slowly. These were things that, while seemingly characteristic of Alphys, would _never_ happen with Undyne. Something was definitely wrong.

"H-hey! Stop that, you're scaring me!"

"Oh, I'll stop," Undyne said, "as soon as I know what's up."

Alphys finally stopped panicking. She suddenly had a darker expression on her face.

"I knew you'd learn," she said. "I just didn't know getting rid of you would be _this_ easy."

A golden, round charm magically appeared, tied on a string hanging from Alphys' neck. Undyne was in shock. "Wh...What's that, Alphys?"

Alphys smiled. "Now you're speaking my language."

She held out the Millennium Ring, but just before she could use its power, something made Undyne pass out. Alphys was questioning the sudden unconsciousness of her victim when she turned around.

"I knew it."

Marik was standing in the alley, looking pleased that the Millennium Item was mere feet in front of him. No, he wasn't going to _take_ it, no. He was going to use the spirit inside for his own personal gain.

"So... You're the one I sensed when me and my aide arrived here," he said. "I know you plan on obtaining the Millennium Items, but may I propose a different offer?"

Alphys stared at Marik. "Not likely, unless you have a good reward prepared."

"Oh, I do. It comes with this fine beauty." He pulled out a long staff, blades coming out of the head. In the center of the head was a golden eye.

The Millennium Rod? No doubt.

"What do I have to do?" she questioned the strange man.

"Help me defeat a few duelists, and you shall have your Rod. It shouldn't be too much to ask."

"Well, I was just about to banish this girl to the Shadow Realm. She knew too much."

Marik smiled. "She may know too much... but who cares," he added...

"...when she's dueling for us?"

* * *

PAPYRUS:4000

KAIBA:4000

"You made a great mistake challenging me, skeleton, and you're about to regret it! I start by summoning my Hitotsu-me Giant in attack position, followed by two facedown cards. Your move."

Papyrus drew his card. "I SHALL SUMMON MY BATTLE OX...

"I activate my face-down Shadow Spell!" said Kaiba, triumphant. "Now your ox can't move, and it loses 700 attack points."

"WELL, THEN, I CAN ALWAYS SACRIFICE MY OX TO PLAY WHITE DRAGON RITUAL..."

"...And I can always play Magic Jammer. Now you lose your ritual, and, as a result, your Paladin of White Dragon becomes useless unless you have another ritual."

Papyrus sighed. "I SET ONE CARD ANE END MY TURN."

"My move, then? Okay, it's going to start off with Blade Knight. Then I equip it with Legendary Sword, granting it an additional 300 attack points. Now, I only hold one card, so Blade Knight's ability gives it an addittional 400 point boost on top of that. Now, I attack you directly with Blade Knight!"

Papyrus made his move. "I ACTIVATE MY MAGIC CYLINDER! THIS CARD MAKES YOUR BLADE KNIGHT ATTACK YOU INSTEAD OF ME!'

I can still attack with my giant, though. After that, I'll end my turn.

PAPYRUS:2800

KAIBA:1700

Papyrus drew- and instantly felt relieved that Sans had put in cards that annoy opponents. "I ACTIVATE REBELLION, MAKING YOUR BALDE KNIGHT ATTACK YOU AGAIN! YOU LOSE, KAIBA!"

"What... What have you done?" Blade Knight swung his sword at Kaiba. _Well_ , he thought, _at least I have more than one Locator Card._ "You may have beaten me, but you're still pathetic.

"good going, paps! i think, while the rest of us are sleeping, he's gonna have a rough "knight!"

"SANS!"

"sorry, paps. hey, why not keep that rebellion card? it's really useful."

"WHY, THANK YOU, SANS! THANK YOU. I HAVE NEVER BEEN SO PROUD TO BE YOUR BROTHER!"

Kaiba groaned as he left, leaving his locator card on the ground. "I'm out of here." _Actually, that was pretty noble. I probably would've done the same thing for Mokuba. But that win was entirely decided on luck, and it went by way too fast. I'll make sure the finals are longer- and that Papyrus loses to ME!"_

* * *

"Rise and shine, Undyne!"

Alphys' voice woke up Undyne, and she got up, still shaken from her prior encounter with a Millennium Item. "Whoa," she said, "was that dream weird. I just dreamed that you were actually an evil psychopath, and then..."

Marik walked in, rather pleased. "I think you'll find that your so-called "dream" was actually reality. Now, we must prepare for tomorrow. Our victory is at hand. Odion, give the fish her deck."

Odion did this at once.

"Hey, barf bag," Undyne pointed out, "this isn't my deck. I specifically remember-"

"Your deck," Marik said in his sinister tone, "was a pathetic pile of carnivorous fish and spells that didn't do anything good. This deck is still a Water deck, but it's more of our liking."

"But... why? Why are you doing all of this?"

"Why? It's simple, actually," Marik continued. "I want the power of the Pharaoh, and your "friend" here wants the Millennium Items." He held out the Millennium Rod in her direction, and it began to glow. "Do you now understand?"

Undyne understood. He had spoken so... effectively. She nodded.

"..."

"...Yes, Master Marik."

* * *

 **DUN DUN DUNNN!**


	7. Fiery Resolve

**Oh my, this is one long chapter, but I had to get this done. I felt like this chapter should actually have a duel that was of understandable length, which I haven't done since Asriel v. Sans, and that duel wasn't even full length. I also made an OC specifically for this duel, and explored the Butterfly Effect- or, as I call it, How Adding More Characters to a Specific Universe can Change the Course of Nature. (I mean, seriously...)**

* * *

 **Chapter Seven**

 **Fiery Resolve**

Frisk was becoming quite anxious. She had seen Undyne leave with Alphys an hour ago, and neither had returned. She eventually decided to go look for her friends. Wandering down an alley, she saw somebody picking up a card off the ground. From a distance, she could see that it was Undyne's personal favorite- Shark Drake.

Frisk had never felt the need to speak up in a rough situation unless it was absolutely necessary. However, just walking up to the boy to ask for the card wouldn't be enough. She would have to start to talk a lot more than when she was in the Underground. Her mind raced to find an appropriate phrase to use in the situation; "Hey, uh.. Stop!" was the best she could come up with.

"Hey," the boy wondered. "There's this rare card just sitting here, and..."

Frisk thought. "Then turn it into the lost and found. That card is one-of-a kind, and it belongs to my friend. It's actually her favorite card."

"Really? Well, maybe i could just let you hold onto it. I mean, your friend obviously has great taste in monster cards."

She looked at the boy, stunned. "You're... You're just giving it to me?"

The boy smiled. "Well, it has to get to her somehow. I'm Blaze, and I'm glad to meet you."

"Frisk, and, um... how are you doing?"

"Good." Blaze grinned. "I'm actually looking for Battle City duelists to test my Laval monster deck. I've got a good hunch about this one, I've been prepping it for a while."

"Lavals, huh?" Frisk had never heard of the archetype before. "Y'know, I'm actually a duelist too. I can take you on, if you'd like."

"Hey, now you're talkin' my talk! Let's do this!"

* * *

"Wait... Seto Kaiba held you by your collar?"

Asriel looked into Chara's eyes, his shock at being picked up by his tournament host evident. "Yeah, and he also wanted to know where Sans was. I think he heard me talking about Sans' Blue-Eyes cards, and he must not've liked that."

Chara was stunned. "He wanted to find Sans? He might be in trouble..."

Papyrus' voice answered their wavering questions; "WORRY NOT! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, HAVE AVERTED THE ISSUE YOU SPEAK OF! NYEH HEH HEH!"

Asriel and Chara breathed a sigh of relief. They didn't know how, but somehow, Papyrus had bested the president of KaibaCorp. It was a hard blow when Kaiba asked Asriel about where Sans was, and the weight had just been lifted from their shoulders.

"Papyrus," asked Chara, "have you seen Undyne, Frisk, or Alphys anywhere?"

"I CAN'T SAY THAT I HAVE, BUT I DID RUN INTO METTATON, HE WAS TESTING OUT HIS NEW "PERFORMY-WHATSITS..."

Chara facepalmed. "Performapals. Actually, that kind of suits him, right, Asrie-"

Asriel beamed. "Wait, that means he's competing, meaning I can challenge him, and get another Locator Card! Look out, Mettaton; here comes Prince Asriel to kick your butt!"

Chara facepalmed again as her best friend ran off. _Are all of my friends this insane?_

"WHAT'S THE MATTER, HUMAN?" asked Papyrus. "DOES YOUR FACE HURT? WHY DO YOU KEEP HITTING IT?"

 _And I feel like I'm going to strangle Papyrus soon._

* * *

 **BLAZE:4000**

 **FRISK:4000**

 **"** Are you ready?" asked Blaze.

"Born," replied Frisk. I set two cards and set one monster in defense mode."

"Really?" asked Blaze. "Oh well, I'll set one next to this set monster."

"Then I," Frisk said, drawing, "summon Elemental Hero Wildheart. I attack your Set monster."

Blaze smiled. "First, I activate my set 'Backfire.' Now, killing Fire monsters costs you Life Points! As for my Set monster...It's Laval Miller. Since it's destroyed, I can send two more Lavals from my Deck to the Graveyard. I send Laval Volcano Handmaiden and Laval Lakeside Lady to the Graveyard. Then, since my Volcano Maiden is sent to the Graveyard, I can send a fourth monster there; and it's a second Lakeside Lady. Finally, Backfire's effect kicks in, and you take 500 points of damage for destroying my miller."

The damage blasted Frisk hard, but she got back up. "I end my turn."

 **BLAZE:4000**

 **FRISK:3500**

Blaze drew. "Oh, look! It's Laval Burner... who I can Special Summon if I have three or more Lavals in my graveyard. Oh, look, there's four, and three are different. Now, I also summon Laval Coatl using its effect, which is identical to that of my Burner, and Normal Summon my Laval Warrior. Then, I tune my level two Coatl with my level five Burner! I Synchro Summon Laval Stennon! Then, when I summon my Stennon, I can discard one card, and I'll discard... my second Laval Volcano Handmaiden! _That_ means _another_ Laval is sent to the Graveyard, so I now send my Laval Phlogis to the Graveyard. Now, _Phlogis_ gives my Laval Stennon and Warrior each an additional 300 attack points when it goes to the Graveyard. Now, my Warrior has 2100 ATK, and my Stennon has 3000 ATK! Scared?"

Frisk _was_ scared. There were now _eight_ Lavals in Blaze's Graveyard, and _six_ different kinds included. If Blaze pulled some special ability or something, she'd be doomed.

"Now, I attack Wildheart with Laval Warrior!"

Frisk quickly fought back. "I activate Hero Barrier! It stops an attack on one of my Elemental Heroes, and ends your Battle Phase!"

"You catch on quick, Frisk," Blaze noted. "Had my attack gotten through, my warrior's ability would've dealt you damage equal to your monster's attack points. Good catch, though."

"Thanks." That had been the first time anyone had ever complimented her for her dueling skills. She really meant hre thanks towards him.

"It's your move, you know."

"Alright," she said. "I draw... First, I play Pot of Greed to draw two cards... I now activate Foolish Burial. I send one monster from my deck to the Graveyard, and I choose Elemental Hero Necroshade. Then I use Necroshade's effect to summon a high-level Elemental Hero from my hand without Tribute. I'll summon my Elemental Hero Neos in attack mode! Then, Neos attacks Laval Warrior, and you take 400 points of damage."

"Ha!" Blaze remarked. "Did you forget about Backfire? Now, you take an additional 500 points of damage!"

"Then I'll activate Swords of Revealing Light. I now end my turn."

 **BLAZE:3600**

 **FRISK:3000**

"Oh, my turn again!" Blaze drew his card, excited. "I activate my Salamandra card to give Stennon 700 more attack points, for a grand total of 3700! Oh, and don't think of pulling out any Eternal Rests or Man-Eater Bugs, because if you try to kill Stennon with an effect, I can just banish a Laval from my Graveyard to negate it, and destroy the card! Neat, huh? And besides, even with 2500 attack points, Neos can't beat Stennon. Just try! And I'm also playing my Laval Lakeside Lady's ability, banising her and Laval Miller from the Graveyard to take out your face down card!"

Frisk had forgotten about her second facedown- Curse of Anubis. That card could have won her the duel on that turn just now, but she had been too busy trying to understand Blaze and his Lavals to use it.

"Go ahead," he said. "After my next two turns comes your last!"

* * *

At the Domino Museum of Cultural History, a young woman stared at a stone tablet. She was fully prepared to duel in this tournament, for her brother's sake.

Ishizu Ishtar had felt somewhat ill since she had woken up with the knowledge that Marik was still evil. She had thought, just for a second, that all was right with the world. But, as memories of the theft of two of the Egyptian God Cards sank in, she rememered it all. Marik had gone too far, and it was about time he was stopped. She was also glad that her plan to unite the Pharaoh with the Egyptian God Cards by giving Seto Kaiba one of them was working like a charm.

As the depictions burned themselves deeper into Ishizu's mind, she heard footsteps. She had known the visitor was coming; she could see the future using her Millennium Necklace. The visitor arrived with haste, a deck in one hand and a spear in the other.

"Undyne. Here to ask me to pay a visit to my brother, I presume."

Undyne stared at Ishizu, who hadn't even turned to face her until finishing her sentence. "He wishes to meet you immediately, Ishizu." Her single eye seemed almost lifeless, unmoving.

Ishizu looked at Undyne, her face looking as bothered as her thoughts. "You may be doing this against your wishes, but I shall comply. Your mind will be freed, though, before my brother's plan succeeds. This event will cripple the Rare Hunters by removing their strongest fighter from their ranks, allowing the pharaoh to defeat Marik directly."

"Nonsense. Master Marik will prevail over the pharaoh. Now, come. I have orders, and after I'm done with you, I have to find some Locator Cards for him. He will need them to enter the finals."

* * *

Frisk, still shaken from Blaze and his early moves, drew her card. Spark Blaster wouldn't help. Blaze summoned his Laval Magma Cannoneer, using its ability to discard two Laval and deal Frisk 1000 more damage. Frisk then drew Neos Force. Still wouldn't help. Then, she let Blaze make his final move with Swords on his field.

"Wow, I thought the endgame would be more fun! I use my Magma Cannoneer to discard another Laval and deal you 500 more points of damage. Then, I banish my second Lakeside Lady with my first Volcanic Handmaiden to destroy your Set monster!" Elemental Hero Clayman was no more, with that last move.

"I end my turn, and now your Swords are gone. Your monsters are hopeless!"

 **BLAZE:3600**

 **FRISK:1500**

Frisk drew her card; and saw her opprotunity. "I start with Neos Force to increase Neos' attack power by 600 points, and then summon Elemental Hero Sparkman! Next, I equip Sparkman with the Spark Blaster card. I now use Spark Blaster to switch your monsters into defense position! Now, Neos attacks Laval Stennon, and while Backfire deals me 500 points of damage, the additional effect of Neos Force can deal you more- you now take damage equal to your monster's original attack power! Next, I can take an additional 500 damage by attacking Laval Magma Cannoneer with Wildheart, and I finish by attacking you directly with Sparkman!

Sparkman attacked Blaze, and finished off Frisk's opponent for the final blow.

 **BLAZE:0000**

 **FRISK:0500**

"Hey, that was actually pretty fun!" Even after a loss, Blaze was still so cheery and energetic. Frisk grinned at him.

"I think it was fun too. That was a blast!"

"You know, you get my Locator Card, right? Well, let me throw something in for you- the Xyz monster, Lavalal Chain. It's so powerful, it can rearrange monsters _and_ send cards from the deck to the Graveyard! You could probably use it to kill off Necroshade and topdeck Neos, in just a matter of turns! I probably would have summoned it if I ever had two level four monsters together on the field. I hope it comes in handy in the finals!"

Frisk smiled. "I hope so, too."

* * *

"Master Marik, Undyne has arrived with the prisoner."

"Send them in, Odion."

Ishizu was shoved into the middle of the room, evidently not too pleased with her brother. Not only had he wanted her kidnapped, he didn't have the guts to do it himself. It was sickening, but the piece of duct tape covering her mouth was too strong.

"I found her wearing the Necklace, like you said," Undyne said, in a voice that just proved she wasn't thinking for herself.

"Good," Marik said. "I would like you to bring it to the reptile downstairs."

"If I may, my master, her name is Alphys..."

"Be quiet, my mind-slave. You'll get your chances at promotion soon enough. Now, take the deck I gave you and duel in Battle City. Do not let your former allies find you. They will stop us.

"Yes, Master Marik."

"Sir," Odion said, "those specific words are being drilled into my head. They're becoming annoying."

"And that's a good thing, Odion," Marik added. "Soon, that will be the only answer to any question I ask of you. Do you understand?"

Odion sighed. "Yes, Master Marik."

"Now leave us in private, Odion. This is family business.

"But..."

"Odion, what did I just..."

"...yes, Master Marik."

* * *

Odion left Marik in private, as he was told. He went out to the docks outside, thoughtful of his life. He remembered how the Ishtar family had taken him as their own. He remembered how he had sworn his life to Marik after the boy had been forced to take the Tombkeeper's Ritual. He remembered printing the ancient scriptures onto his face, to further link himself to the heir to the Tombkeepers. And he thought about whether he had made the right choice.

As the afternoon went on, he didn't think about Alphys adding another Millennium Item to her collection. He didn't think about how Undyne was likely going to replace him as Marik's aide if he left. He didn't even think that his adoptive sister might be living out the rest of her days in the Shadow Realm. And he especially didn't think that any of this would actually happen. He turned away from Marik's headquarters, and began to run in the opposite direction. Sure, he may have pledged his life to Marik, but now the Marik he had sworn to protect was gone. He was going to find the pharaoh.  
And he was going to help him stop Marik.

* * *

 **So yeah, now Odion is a fugitive from Marik, Asriel is trying to find Mettaton, and Ishizu is in the Shadow Realm...**

 **"How Adding More Characters to a Specific Universe can Change the Course of Nature" really works, doesn't it?**


	8. A Deadly Performance!

Alright, so this chapter is pretty long, but the duel is actually pretty short. I was busy researching Performapals and Mega Monarchs, and thinking of characteristic lines from two familiar characters I'm introducing in this chapter. I just didn't want to prolong the wait, so here it is!

* * *

Chapter Eight

A Deadly Performance

"...and _that_ was when I realized that, rather than eating the pie with a fork, I had been using my face instead!"

The town bakery and cafe was a place that the Dreemur siblings visited quite frequently. It might have been the fact that Toriel had a part-time job there during the summer, while school was out and/or she wasn't teaching. It might have been that she made pie for them on the house. And it might have been that it was a perfect place to discuss important matters, like deckbuilding, or advice, or, in this case, Undyne's sudden disappearance. But whatever the reason, Frisk and Chara had decided to stop by on the way to the town square, where Mettaton would most likely be dueling, and where Asriel would, most likely, almost get his butt kicked. I say 'almost,' because even Chara knew that Asriel could pull through in a sticky situation.

"Anyways," continued Toriel, "I felt rather ashamed when my parents looked at my face. But they seemed happy that I was happy. Ever since, I wanted to re-create the feeling that my mother created for me. When I baked my first pie for Asgore on our second date, he had said it was the best he'd ever eaten. Things went on from there, and I went on to make delicious desserts that anybody would like."

Chara smiled. "Wow," she said, "I never knew you had such a long backstory on why your butterscotch-cinnamon pie is so amazing, Mom."

Toriel looked into the eyes of both of her adopted daughters. "I could probably teach you, if you would like to know. It would be as easy as _pie!_ "

She heard the words coming out of her mouth, and instantly realized that she shouldn't have said that in front of Chara. She knew that Chara had never liked Sans' jokes, and the pun that she had just made would probably have driven Chara over the edge if she hadn't heard stuff like this a million times.

"Well, I should get back to the kitchen. Bon appetit, my children!"

"Bye," said Frisk. Frisk was actually rather disappointed that Toriel's stories couldn't continue. But no matter; time to get back to the task at hand. She turned to Chara. "So, did you hear about what happened to Undyne? We went to look for you, and then Alphys showed up. She seemed suspicious, so Undyne decided to talk to her, and they went into an alley. Two monsters went in. One came out. Undyne was nowhere to be found."

Chara's eyes widened. "Really? Wow, this is a shocker..."

"And there's more," Frisk continued. When I went into the alleyway where the two had been talking, I found two things; my first opponent and, more importantly..." She pulled the card out of her bag. "...Shark Drake."

Chara thought long and hard. The image of the red Xyz monster burned itself into her head as she stared at the card. She looked at Number 32, thinking about what might have happened to their friend. Finally, she came to a conclusion.

"Undyne would never just leave her favorite card in an alley," Chara concluded, "unless it was absolutely necessary. She must be trying to send us a signal; but what...?"

"I don't know." Frisk admitted. There were only three things that could've happened: Undyne leaving through the other side of the alley without talking to Frisk first, Undyne being kidnapped, or Undyne being killed. Door number one seemed highly unlikely, and door number three seemed impossible, because not a speck of dust was in the alley, and there was no wind. Unless the killer had brought a bag to fill with fish dust, there was only one possibility; kidnapping. "Someone probably kidnapped her, but why?"

Chara took note of that. "And if so, why would Alphys just walk out without telling you? She might have been blackmailed into not saying anything."

Frisk turned to her older, adoptive sister. "Interrogation?"

Chara shook her head. "Chances are, they have eyes on Alphys. Besides, we were going to support Asriel when he dueled Mettaton. "

"You're right," Frisk decided. While both Dreemurs wanted to learn more, there was no time. They left as soon as they thanked their mother for the meal, copletely oblivious to the fact that the bald man at the table beside them could have told them anything.

Odion sighed. The girls were smart, but learning the truth could shatter them forever. He would not tell them until the right time came. It only seemed right to leave the fate of their friend in the air until they could understand.

* * *

"...And now, I'll attack your Luster Dragon #2 with my Performapal Sky Magician!"

Mettaton's current duel was nearing its conclusion. His opponent only had five hundred- no, now four hundred life points remaining, and he had a very powerful monster at his command. Of course, the monster could only attack once, and he seemed to be unable to continue. His opponent still had a Big Shield Gardna, too.

"Next," Mettaton added, "I activate the effect of my Performapal Sky Pupil, returning my Sky Magician to my hand to summon it. Then, since Performapal Sky Magician leaves the field, its effect lets me strike down one card, and I choose BIg Shield Gardna! Now, I attack you with my Sky Pupil. His eight hundred attack points devastate your life points in an amazing finale to this glorious show!

Mettaton's opponent fell to the ground, upset that he had been defeated by an opponent who was just a robot.

"Don't be sad, boy, you lost in style; you went out to me!"

The duelist ran off, throwing the Locator Card at Mettaton. It would have given him a papercut had he been biological. Mettaton's fans broke into an adoring cheer.

"Mettaton, you're amazing!" "Mettaton, you're so fabulous!" "I would give anything to be like you, Mettaton!" ("Etc. Etc.")

The performer smiled at his fans, listening to their cheers. Then, he heard the challenge among the cheers.

"Mettaton, I'll take you on!'

Everything turned silent. The crowd turned in the direction of the speaker- Asriel- and looked at him. He seemed ready to fight for the card Mettaton had just won.

Then they broke into humored laughter.

"Oh, my gosh, he isn't, like, serious, right?"

"He thinks he can just beat Mettaton!"

"Awww, what a cute little moron! He thinks Mettaton would give a crap about him!"

(More etc.)

Mettaton blinked, looked at Asriel, then blinked again to ensure his photoreceptors were working properly. The young boss monster was still there.

"Oooohhh! It is a pleasure to see you, Your Highness! We have not spoken properly since-"

"Let's just get to the point,"Asriel said. The whole "Your Highness" thing was getting old; it started as a joke on April Fools Day, when, as a joke, Chara had asked the entire school to refer to Asriel by "Your Highness" for the rest of the day. It worked, and by the end of the day, the whole class was in on it. Even his mother. It didn't stop there, though, and by the end of the week, even Sans and Papyrus were calling him "Your Highness." It _still_ bugged Asriel, even though that was at least two months ago.

Asriel shook away the thought, beginning to focus on his hand. Chara and Frisk arrived, glad that they hadn't missed a thing.

Asriel played the top of his hand. "I'll start with Eidos, the Underworld Squire. Eidos lets me summon another card this turn, as long as it's a Tribute Summon. I'll sacrifice Eidos to call out Thestalos, the Firestorm Monarch! Now, I use the ability of my monarch, discarding a card from your hand. Then, if I choose a Monster Card, you take 100 points of damage for each level on that monster! I think I'll take out... that card!"

Mettaton sighed. "It's my level seven Performapal Sleight Hand Magician."

Asriel smiled. "You take 700 points of damage, and you lose your monster!" He set one card. "Your move."

Mettaton drew- and grinned. "I activate the Pendulum effects of Performapal Gumgumouton and Performapal Skullcrobat Joker! These monsters are now treated as Spell Cards, each with an amazing ability. Plus, I can now perform a fabulous maneuver called a Pendulum Summon! Since Gumgumouton has a scale of 1, and Skullcrobat Joker has a scale of 8, I can summon any monsters from my hand between those levels! Any level two-through-seven cards can now emerge at any point possible! I call on my Performapal Sky Magician and my Performapal Elephammer! I attack your Firestorm Monarch with Performapal Sky Magician!"

Asriel reacted. "You'll be saying that to my Trap Card: Mirror Wall! I can now cut the Attack power of your Sky Magician in half, meaning he'll be destroyed and not Thestalos!"

Mettaton pulled his own move. "I activate the effect of Performapal Gumgumouton! Now, my magician is not destroyed this turn!"

Asriel shrugged. "Whatever. You still take 1150 points of damage."

Mettaton frowned. "That's a price I'm going to have to pay. Your move, Your Highness."

"Stop calling me that! Ugh, I draw... and I can win! I'll let my Mirror Wall go, this time. I play Monster Reincarnation, and I discard my Dandylion to return Eidos to my hand! Then, the destruction of Dandylion lets me summon two Fluff Tokens, but they won't stick around. Next, I summon Eidos, and I can finally begin my move! I sacrifice Thestalos and Eidos! Here comes my deck's most powerful card... Caius, the Mega Monarch!"

Caius appeared, but he seemed different than when he appeared in Asriel's duel against Sans. He looked... bigger. Scarier. More powerful.

"Now!" Asriel was making his mighty conclusion. "Since I Tribute Summoned my Mega Monarch, and a Dark monster was involved, I can now remove two of your cards from play! I choose your Sky Magician and your Elephammer! Now, you take 1000 points of damage, and that leaves you with only 1150 Life Points! Now, I'll attack you directly!"

"Not so fast, darling. My Sky Magician's ability now destroys your Mega Monarch."

"ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

"Don't feel blue, Your Highness, it happens far too often."

"I asked you not to call me that!"

"Oh, look, it's my turn again! Oh, I think I'll Pendulum Summon my second Performapal Sleight Hand Magician, and attack your Fluff Token!"

"I still have a second," Asriel pointed out, drawing. "I'll play Card Destruction, destroying any cards we hold and allowing us to draw new hands instead... Now, I sacrifice my Fluff Token to summon Zaborg, the Thunder Monarch! Zaborg's effect will destroy your Sleight Hand Magician, and he'll attack you directly!"

"Not so fast, Your Highness _(Now he's just doing it to be mean...)._ I play Battle Fader."

"SERIOUSLY? I CAN'T BELIEVE THIS!"

"And it's my move," Mettaton said, interrupting Asriel's rage. "I set one card and end my turn.

Asriel drew. "YESSSSSSSSS!"

Mettaton was confused. "What's so amazing? Oh, you just realized that you're about to lose to _me,_ didn't you? It's alright, it's a natural rea-"

"No way! I activate Book of Moon to flip Battle Fader face down, and then I sacrifice Zaborg to summon Granmarg, the Mega Monarch!"

Chara gasped. "A second Mega Monarch?"

Asriel smirked. "All of my monarchs have an upgraded version that can be Tribute Summoned simply by tributing a Tribute Summoned monster. The Mega Monarchs have abilities that are improvements on the originals. For example, while Granmarg can destroy one face down card, Mega Granmarg can take out _two!_ All you have left are your Pendulum Monsters, and, since they count as Spells now, they can't keep me from attacking you directly, for the third attempt in a row!"

And this one got through. The duelists walked up to each other, shook hands, changed ownership of a Locator Card, and seperated. Asriel was pleased that he had beaten armies of monsters. He was about to get a small shock when he heard from Frisk that Undyne was missing. But for now, he was happy.

And as the three Dreemurs headed home for the day- it was getting dark- they could only talk about the great duels the day had prepared for them: Chara facing Bonz, Frisk tackling Blaze, and Asriel's fight against Mettaton. Tomorrow might be even better. They would just have to see.

* * *

 **So yeah, I will probably rely on Battle Fader to prolong quite a few duels, but other cards, like Spells, Traps, and Kuribohs, will be used too. And yes, Goatmom will eventually have to duel. That's probably not going to happen for a while, though, because I can't think of a deck for her at this point...**


	9. The Hero and the Fisherman, Part One

**Okay, so... this is going to take some explaining.**

 **First, I'm not dead (yay!). I just went on a trip, and forgot to notify anyone.**

 **Second, this next chapter is in two parts, because 1: I want to take a break for the holidays, and 2: I'm just too lazy to finish it right now. Just sayin'...**

* * *

 **Chapter 9**

 **The Hero and the Fisherman, Part 1**

* * *

Frisk, Chara, and Asriel were going nowhere fast. On the one hand, they were winning duels. On the other, they had a missing friend to deal with. In any case, the three Dreemurs had no idea that another issue was arising with Alphys, and they hadn't even heard of Marik's existence.

The sun was rising, but Chara was the only child at the table.

"Mom?" she asked, "Where are Frisk and Azzy?"

Toriel thought for a moment. "Let's see... Asriel left to duel, as usual, and Frisk said she wanted to learn more about Undyne's vanishing..."

Chara nodded, reaching for a knife to cut her pancakes. "Asriel, I understand, but nobody would be up if Frisk decided to ask around town or anything. She'd have to be kind of crazy, right?"

"Well, she _did_ try to flirt with Papyrus once..."

"Enough said."

Chara looked out the window. She kind of hoped that Frisk would be okay. She twiddled her knife in her fingertips, wondering why she was still holding it... It was quite a mystery, considering that she had only ever used a knife once before- or at least, once that she could remember, when Asriel had given her half of his friendship locket in an Earthbound-style gift box. But here she was, thinking about the knife a bit too intently for her tastes. She put it down, wondering if things could ever get weirder.

And they could.

* * *

Frisk was feeling rather awkward looking at Seto Kaiba. It was six-o-clock in the morning, and he had still been eating breakfast when she knocked on the doors to KaibaCorp.

"...Fine. Any duelist who qualified for Battle City has to be good- or have a good card. That E-Hero Neos, for example. Or my Blue-Eyes White Dragon. Or your friend's... shark thing."

"Shark Drake, Mr. Kaiba."

"Whatever," said Kaiba. "The point is, a missing duelist in my tournament could mean bad news. I've got to use the video feed to find Yugi, anyway, so I may as well look for your friend while I'm at it."

Frisk was feeling good when she finally walked away. Kaiba had finally listened to somebody's request! Had it been any other problem, he probably would have turned her down, but a missing duelist was a far bigger issue than that...

She rounded the corner, and saw several men in front of a building. All of them were clad in purple robes. One turned in her direction and grinned. "Hey, missy! Come on in and join the party!"

* * *

(Ring... Ring...)

(But nobody came.)

Asriel was getting worried. _Why isn't Frisk picking up?_ he thought. _She never turns her phone off, and charges it every night._

He tried the other route.

(Ring... Ring...)

"...hello?"

"Chara, I'm glad you picked up!" Asriel's relief flowed through his words. "Have you seen Frisk?"

Chara sounded confused. "Whaddya mean? I thought she was left when _you_ did!"

"No," Asriel said, beginning to panic. "She left a bit after I did. She even called me, but now she's not even picking up."

Neither of the Dreemur siblings could deny that their sister could be in great danger. Asriel turned to the road ahead. "Well, we've gotta find her. We don't need _two_ people missing in this tournament..."

* * *

Undyne was feeling rather pleased. She was finally doing something worthwhile: holding any hostages foolish enough to walk into the building. Marik would probably give her a promotion. Or maybe he would just smile. Either way, anybody who went into the Back Lord Casino that day wouldn't be leaving with their soul in their body. She would make sure of that.

"We've got two more. A boy and a girl, boy around five, girl at thirteen."

"Excellent," came her reply. "I am sure Master Marik will be pleased."

"Umm," one of the Rare Hunters asked, "why are we holding hostages again?"

Undyne frowned, tired that she would have to explain it for the sixth time today. "We duel the hostages, take their souls, and get their Locator Cards. Plus, sending them to the Shadow Realm ensures no witnesses."

"Right, right. Thanks."

* * *

Frisk was almost sure that she had just walked into a trap. How had she been so gullible? Chara's thoughts would probably have been: _Join the party, he said! It'll be fun, he said! You won't get hurt, he said!_

She realized that she was surrounded by other people, all tied up. She shook her head as more men began to tie her up.

"Don't worry, young lady," one said, "you've got a friend here."

"Really?"

"Yeah, but she isn't seeing you today."

Frisk's face fell. She probably knew where Undyne had gone, but where she actually _was_ still went unanswered. She sat down next to a five-year-old boy with brown hair.

" ...'Sup?"

"Not much," she answered. "Just got myself kidnapped too."

"Whoa. Pretty lame, huh?"

"Yeah, it's even worse that they have my friend, too."

"Line up, hostages!" one of the cloaked men said, in a rough tone. "It's duel time. I'll choose... You..." He pointed to a famous hostage- water duelist Mako Tsunami... "...and YOU." ...and then at Frisk.

Another Chara-esque thought popped into her head: _Oh, great! Now I'm facing one of the best duelists in the world!_

"The winning duelist," he said, "will get to meet the head of this operation. The loser... well..."

"Out with it!" Mako seemed to be growing impatient. "What happens to the loser?"

"The loser's soul... goes to the Shadow Realm." _What they don't know,_ he thought, _is that our boss is gonna send the_ _ **winner**_ _to the Shadow Realm, too._

Nobody said another word. Frisk didn't like the sound of "Shadow Realm." It sounded like a place where she would get torn to shreds. And then her soul would pull itself back together, only to be torn apart again and again. She sighed. Today was just not her day...

* * *

The Kaiba brothers were looking at the map of Battle City, thinking. That many duelists- many of them famous- just couldn't disappear like that. It was just... off.

"Seto," asked Mokuba, with a confused look on his face, "when did you start to care about missing duelists, other than Yugi? I mean, you always said that they were all pathetic."

"I know," Seto said, looking at his brother. "It's just... something. I keep feeling like I should help them, even though I know that none of them even stand a chance at winning this tournament. I don't understand why, exactly."

"Do you think... that you might... y'know... feel like they need help?"

"Nonsense," Seto growled. "I just think that they may need to be found."

"So..." Mokuba thought. "...they need help."

"Shut up, Mokuba."

* * *

"Alright. Let us have an excellent duel."

Mako seemed undaunted, even in the face of certain death. Frisk somehow didn't feel the same. The pressure was on.

"I shall start," Mako said, "by playing my Legendary Ocean!" Mako's field suddenly became flooded, the water seemingly surrounding him, parting in the middle to leave space for him. "That's a card that cuts the level of any water creatures by one, and gives them two hundred extra attack and defense points. Then, I shall summon the Legendary Fisherman in attack mode! Adding a facedown will aid this maneuver. Make your move."

Frisk was intimidated. 2050 attack points on a level five summoned for no tribute... Okay, so maybe it was a level 4 now, but that didn't mean much anymore. Frisk drew...

Okay. She could actually do this.

"I'll start with my Elemental Hero, Woodsman, followed by Change of Heart! Your fisherman is mine now, and that means that my field has two level four monsters. I'll overlay them to Xyz summon my Lavalal Chain!" Now that she was saying it out loud, it felt weird not to say "Elemental Hero" when summoning a powerful monster.

"Amazing, you used my favorite card against me. I'm impressed." Mako smiled, shrugging. "But you still haven't experienced the full potential of the ocean that is my deck's true ally."

How was he so calm? Confident? It was amazing that Tsunami had not shivered from the pressure. Plus, with her chain ready to do it's work, he seemed quite excited to see how things would turn out.

"Now," Frisk finally continued, "I'll use an overlay unit on my Lavalal Chain to send one monster from my deck to the graveyard. I'll send down Necroshade, if you don't mind."

"Actually," Mako said, "it's a brilliant move. I probably would have thought that you would topdeck one of your monsters had you not been using Heroes."

"Thanks..." It was kind of hard to think about that when this duel was a matter of life or death! Mako was acting like it was just another duel... Could he have a plan to get both of them out? Or was he just having a good time?

"Lavalal Chain can attack you directly..."

"I'm afraid not!" Mako exclaimed. I'll start with Battle Fader, and follow that with Torrential Tribute, destroying both it and your chain!"  
Okay, so, reality check, now all three kids have been Battle Faded. I'm probably gonna do this a lot.

Mako thought for a second. "Of course, I could have activated Tribute when you summoned your Chain, but I think I just wanted to see how your card would play."

Frisk shook her head, setting two cards. This was crazy! He had a trap that could kill her card, and he waited! Wow, this guy had guts.

"My move. I'll draw." He did. "I'll start with Monster Reborn, reviving my fisherman. Then, I sacrifice him to summon Levia Dragon Daedalus, in attack mode! Prepare yourself, because when Daedalus attacks, your Life points are taking a huge beating!"

* * *

 **If you want to ask, no, Mako isn't brainwashed, he's just taking his mind off of the danger, and _yes,_ the Yu-Gi-Oh Abridged reference seemed absolutely necessary at the time. (No, it didn't...)Shut up, Mokuba.**

 **See? I did it again!**

 **Anyways, I'm hoping to finish this chapter on Wednesday, in case you were wondering. Big thanks to Ulrich362 for hanging along for the ride, and giving me counseling on the Tori deck. I think I'll take your advice, actually.**

 **Lastly, sorry for the two-parter thing. It might be used again in a later episode, but I'll only use it in important episodes of this series, like the Finals, or, in this case, the part where Frisk busts the Rare Hunters.**

 **As for the young boy... I was going to make a Yu-Gi-Oh GX reference, and stick kid Jaden in there, but I felt like that would just get hate. Let me know if you like the idea, though...**


	10. The Hero and the Fisherman, Part Two

**Well, this took a bit longer than I thought, but it's finally here, chapter 10! This took me so long because my brothers pretty much took over the computer and I went places on Wednesday. Go fig. Anyways, I've decided to make Alphys a main character again, at least for a few chapters. I also decided that it was about time Odion got involved, so there's that, too.**

* * *

 **Chapter 10**  
 **The Hero and the Fisherman, Part Two**

Now, I believe it is safe to say that Alphys was in quite a terrified mood at this point, with an evil spirit controlling her body and several friends having been abducted already; one of them being brainwashed. She... Let's just say that she was shaking in her boots- that is, if she were really the one wearing them.

"H-Hey, you! I don't think that, well, I... you... um..."

"You want me to stop, correct?"

Alphys wished she could nod in response, and surprisingly, the spirit of the Millennium Ring caught her drift, recognizing the gesture.

"I'm afraid that won't happen. See, you want to take control and save your friends, correct?"

She began to shiver. "Uh... yeah?"

"Well, maybe, if you keep trying to intervene, I'll start to send them to the Shadow Realm, just like that fool, Bakura. Your choice, idiot."

"...I understand. I, uh, won't s-stop you or anything, okay?"

The Spirit nodded Alphys' head. "That's what I thought."

* * *

Meanwhile, things were going badly for Frisk at the casino where the Rare Hunters had trapped her. Of course, she didn't know they were Rare Hunters. She didn't even know what a Rare Hunter was. Mako's monster blasted her, hard. Undyne cringed at the sight of the blow. She couldn't quite understand why. She cared nothing for this human! Seeing the hit should have given her joy, not fear.

She took her eyes off of the monitor when she heard Marik's voice echo in her mind.

"Remember, Undyne. This is our moment. Your last Locator Card, and the demise of two duelists who dared to walk into the den of the Rare Hunters!"

"Of course, Master Marik," she replied. She turned to see Alphys- no, whatever was controlling her- standing in the doorway. The two locked eyes. Marik finally receded.

"I'll leave you two to it," he said. Now, it was just them.

* * *

 **FRISK:1200**

 **MAKO:4000**

Frisk got up, dazed from the blast but still standing. She drew. "...Well. I guess I'll have to use Necroshade's special ability. Since he's in the Graveyard, I can summon a single high-level hero without tribute. It's time to say 'Hello!' to Elemental Hero Bladedge!" The great, golden warrior appeared, and Frisk was back in this thing. "Next, I'm coming in with Skyscraper, a card that'll give Bladedge 1000 more attack points if he challenges a stronger monster, followed by my Jar of Greed trap to draw an extra card. Now, I'll attack Daedalus with Bladedge!"

Bladedge charged, slicing through the Levia Dragon with ease. This duel could still be won, after all!

 **FRISK:1200**

 **MAKO:3200**

Frisk looked at Mako, andd he wasn't even sweating. He looked like it was actually _fun_ to get his butt kic-

 _That's it!_

Frisk finally realized that Mako wasn't playing his traps late because the stress was on him. He wasn't smiling in pain because he liked getting hurt. He was just dueling for the love of it! He was dueling because it was fun! He didn't even seem phased by the fact that losing this duel could mean death. He just liked to duel, share his memories of the sea through his deck. It was actually very clever. It took his mind off of the danger, meaning he could always keep a duel going in his style, no matter what. He knew when to make each suitable play, but didn't just to ensure his pleasure in actually dueling.

Mako drew. "Hmm... I'll play Premature Burial. This powerful Spell Card shall revive Daedalus at the cost of a mere 800 life points. Now, the fury of the seas shall truly wash over you! I play Daedalus' special ability, sending my Legendary Ocean field to the Graveyard to destroy all cards on the field, apart from Daedalus himself. Now, I attack directly with Daedalus!"

One might think, surely, that this would be the end for our hero. After all, she has no monsters, no backrow, and only three cards in her hand, which surely, surely couldn't help now!

You would be wrong to think this, for while Frisk had been in seemingly hopeless situations before (cough, cough, Omega Flowey, cough), these situations were still somehow overcome. And right now, the card that Jar of Greed had given her was about to pay off.

"I play...

...Kuriboh."

These three words were all that were needed to save Frisk's life. The tiny puffball flew in front of Daedalus' blast, giving his life to protect Frisk's.

"Kuriboh, huh? I see you have a few unexpected tricks up your sleeve. No matter, though. As soon as my next turn comes, the duel ends!"

 **FRISK:1200**

 **MAKO:2400**

Frisk drew, scared to lose. "Um... I play Pot of Greed." The girl drew two cards... and suddenly realized that this duel was winnable. Maybe it was fate. Maybe pure luck. Either way, the four cards she now held _were_ victory for her.

"I play Polymerization, fusing Elemental Heroes Avian and Burstinatrix to Fusion Summon... Elemental Hero Flame Wingman! I'll give him a boost using my H-Heated Heart card, giving him five hundred extra attack points until the end of the turn. Now, I attack with my Flame Wingman, destroying Daedalus. Then, Flame Wingman allows me to deal you extra damage equal to the attack points of your monster. That's an extra...say, 2600? The duel's over, Mako!"

* * *

"Wow. She actually managed to beat Mako."

Undyne was actually rather impressed that Frisk had beaten the third-place duelist of the regionals. Daedalus had been Mako's card of the season, and he had failed to win using it. Either Frisk was really something, or Tsunami was just plain pathetic.

"Don't be too much of a fangirl, Undyne," Alphys said, obviously unphased by Frisk's mad skill. She had seen it in action before, having secretly witnessed Frisk's duel against Blaze Kindler. It was a beautiful duel. Even she had to admit that. Both of Frisk's big duels this season had been beautiful.

"Should I take their souls now?"

"I'll take care of the waterboy," the lizard muttered. "You make sure the Rare Hunters let the kid go, along with the Locator Card she would have won anyways."

"But Marik said-"

"If that fool wants you to take her soul," Alphys interrupted, "then he is forgetting that Dreemur has a habit of escaping danger. If she saw us, our whole goal is jeapordized."

Undyne thought about this for a few minutes, and then spoke. "Did you just call my master a _fool?"_

The ring-spirit stepped back. Meanwhile, the real Alphys was excited. _Poor ch-choice of words, buddy!_

The spirit re-worded the phrase. "Err... No, I'm just saying that he probably forgot that Frisk can be quite good at escaping and that we're kind of her targets. In our past, maybe, we were friends. We don't need her, now that Marik has begun helping you, and that I've taken this monster as my own."

Undyne nodded. "I guess. But then, if that human is looking for us, what do we do?"

Alphys (the fake one) smiled. "We let our nice sides take over. Interact with them. Yours has been quite enough surpressed that she won't even know that we exist anymore. As for mine, she's been threatened enough that she wouldn't dare speak up."

Undyne nodded. "Perhaps that would work. I just think I need Master Marik's approval..."

Marik's voice echoed through their heads. "Very well. And I'll have to alter your good self's memories, in order to give her memory of winning those Locator Cards."

Alphys smiled. _It was a brilliant plan. There's only one person who could cause it all to go wrong._

 _And that person... is Marik._

* * *

Mako began to get up, but a Rare Hunter with scars on his cheek, leg and arms shoved him into a back wall. He passed through it, and when the man knocked on the wall, it was as solid as it had been before the duel. The man then looked at Frisk. "You're free to go, runt."

Frisk was confused. "But I thought-"

"The boss doesn't want to see anyone today. Too bad. I'd have liked to see her banish your mind today."

The men parted, making a clear path to the door. "Say a single word about this, hostage, and your life becomes hell."

Frisk began to leave, but saw the boy standing next to her. "That was amazing! I want a card like that firey wing-guy!"

Frisk thought. "Hey, why not take him?"

"Really?"

"Yeah, got, like, four more back at home, and even more of the materials. Hey, why not build a deck like this, while you're at it?"

She passed three cards to the kid, those cards being Flame Wingman and his materials. She then turned to the door.

"Remember, kid," the scarred man said, "not a word."

Frisk nodded. She didn't want everything to go wrong, and she _definitely_ didn't want her friends involved. She walked away, wanting to forget all about her terrible experience as a hostage.

"So, you managed to escape?"

Frisk jumped, turning to see a tall, bald man with a single ponytail and a tattooed face looking down at her. "Umm... hi? Have we met?"

The man was obviously trying to pull off wearing a dark red button-up shirt, and was pulling it off pretty well. The tan skin and tattoos kind of dampened his appearance, though.

"Tell me something. Did you ever overhear those Rare Hunters talking about their leader, Marik?'

Frisk was now more confused than ever. "Rare Hunters? Marik? Who are you, and what the Neos are you talking about?"

"You have much to learn, girl," the man said. "As for my name, you may call me Odion. Follow me. We must discuss this in private."

* * *

Asriel arrived at the cafe, obviously very tired from searching out duelists and looking for both Undyne and Frisk. He almost collapsed when he made it to his, Chara's, and Frisk's reserved table. He ate some pie, wondered where on earth his siblings could be, and then finally stood up, out of his seat. He had just barely begun to walk away when he heard Chara's voice.

"Asriel, come quick! It's Alphys, she's found Undyne! Come on, let's go!"

* * *

Alphys looked forward with relief to see the Dreemurs running to meet her and Undyne. "G-guys! This is great! When I found her, she was, uh... I think, winning her fifth card!"

Undyne nodded. "Yeah! Only question is, why wasn't I contacting you guys? Even I don't know why..."

Asriel hugged Undyne so tightly that she almost couldn't breathe. "You had us worried sick! Where _were_ you, Undyne?

"My question is, where's Frisk?"

Asriel suddenly froze. That was a question he hadn't expected.

"Well..."

* * *

Marik smiled, with a wicked expression on his face. "Those fools haven't even begun to realize that their returning friend is actually my mind-slave! Even worse, now their other friend has also vanished... If only this were the Pharaoh and his friends going through this drama."

"Master Marik!" Umbra and Lumis, a pair of masked Rare Hunters, ran into Marik's chamber. "It's mister Odion!"

"He's gone!"

"Vamoosed!"

"Disappeared!"

What? Odion, missing? This was uncalled for!

"You two nimrods had better find him," he commanded. "You don't want to see my bad side."

The shorter Hunter, Lumis, cackled. The taller one, Umbra, chuckled.

"Like we haven't seen it already, Umbra!" said Lumis.

"Yeah, like his bad side isn't there right now, Lumis!" said Umbra.

Marik growled and pulled out his Millennium Rod.

They immediately decided to leave.

 _Works every time_.

* * *

 **...And yes, the spirit of the ring is planning on taking over Marik's scheme. What else could I ask for in a plot?**

 **Also, Undyne has no idea that she's without her favorite card right now. Nice thought, huh?**


	11. Striking the Past

**Okay. It's time to set all right with the world again.**

 **...Or, as right as it can be with DuelTale. Besides, the whole plot I've been building up will go overboard in the finale. Plus, this chapter takes place during my favorite duel in the original series, which amps it up a little.**

* * *

 **Chapter 11**

 **Striking the Past**

Now Frisk was confused times ten, or whatever terms kids were using these days. She had just been kidnapped, witnessed some guy literally going through a solid wall, got released, ran into a weird-looking bald guy, and was now goiing with him to his "hideaway." Why not a house? And where on earth was everyone else? This was getting stranger and stranger.

Odion turned to her, his face still having that bothered expression. "Fear not. All will be explained soon." She was wondering how soon "soon" would be when he spoke again: "Ah, here we are."

Odion's hideaway was a small tent, obviously hand-pitched. Frisk would have been one not to think much of it, but recent events had altered her mindset. Now, she just felt like the tent was actually quite neat.

"Would you like a drink?" Odion asked. Frisk nodded, and he walked over to a cooler. He pulled out a box of juice pouches, and tossed one to her. She tore the straw off of her pouch, questioning, most of all, who _was_ this guy? By now she was completely lost in her questions for this man.

"Perhaps I should start at the begining," Odion said, poking a straw into his own pouch. "You look like this world has remained completely ambiguous to you, in terms of ancient history and legends."

Frisk nodded again. "I have kinda been living with a family of monsters for the past few years. I wouldn't know much of my own human history."

Odion, for the first time since Frisk had met him, smiled. "Well, then, you're in for one long story. Here we go..."

* * *

Meanwhile, a rather small duel was going on by the riverside, and Chara had stopped to check it out. That Yugi kid was facing another weird guy; this one was a mime with many piercings on his face and quite a strange personality. Perhaps the mime was acting on orders from someone? She couldn't guess.

Alphys walked up next to her. "Hey, what's going on?" She didn't need an answer, because that's when she looked over the railing. "Oh! H-Hi, Yugi? How's it going?"

Chara was surprised. "You know each other?"

"Yeah! He, uh, taught me how to, um, duel! My deck is pretty much based off of one of his! Okay, maybe not the one he's using right now, but it's at least partially taken off of it. I mean, it just has so many cool strategies, y'know? Like the Royal Knights. S-see, when King's Knight..."

Chara managed to turn away from Alphys' rant and look onto the duel. It was quite in the mime's favor; the guy kept reviving a card called Revival Jam, who (at least in the anime) was able to pull itself back together over and over. Furthermore, he had a card called Jam Defender, which let Revival Jam take attacks on the mime's Slime Tokens, tiny slime balls which he was obviously going to sacrifice.

Of course, what he would summon using them, Chara couldn't be certain. A Red-Eyes? No, he had two, which was all he would need to summon a regular Red-Eyes monster, and besides, Yugi's Buster Blader could still take it out with his special ability. An Xyz monster, perhaps? But the rules prevent an Xyz summon using Tokens!

In addition, he had two other cards: Infinite Cards, which granted both players the privelege to skip discarding during the End Phase, and Card of Safe Return, which let him draw three cards when a monster was revived- and since Revival Jam kept pulling itself back together, it was quite the combo, anyways.

"You can't win without attacking, Marik!" Yugi shouted, obviously knowing that, with a strategy like this, the mime would eventually run out of deck to use.

"Wait, so the mime is named Marik?" Chara wondered aloud. Alphys very much wanted to correct her; however, the threat of the Millennium Ring was still strong. Plus, with Chara so close, she'd be putting her friend in danger if she opened her mouth.

I will take time to add that, had it been Undyne, or Asriel, or, for heaven's sake, even Sans, the ring's threat wouldn't stand. The wielder would have had a stronger will than this villain. But we must remember that Alphys had been the unlucky soul who had come into posession of the Ring, and she was possibly more of a coward than anyone who ever lived in Domino City, or in the Underground, or anywhere on Earth ever. Okay, maybe apart from Whimsuns from the Ruins, but still!

Luckily, she didn't have to explain it, because Yugi stopped and did so right there. How he had known, she had no idea, but somehow, he knew that Marik was a mind-controlling madman. She breathed a huge sigh of relief.

"Now," Marik said, "I draw, and generate a third Slime Token! Now, I'll sacrifice all three..."

 _So, it's Gilford the Lightning?_ Chara thought.

"...in order to summon my Egyptian God Card!"

 _Wait, Egypty-whaty what?_

Marik turned to Chara. "I said I'm summoning an Egyptian God Card!"

Chara was super confused. Had marik read her mind? And more importantly, what on earth was an Egyptian God Card?

* * *

"An Egyptian God Card," Odion was explaining to Frisk, "is just what the name implies. It's a Duel Monsters card with power so unimaginable, that it could only be justified on a literal god."

Frisk shuddered. She had heard that Odion had been adopted by the Ishtars, a family whose job it was to keep the tomb of a powerful pharaoh. This pharaoh had banished several monsters, under the influence of a powerful evil (though Odion wouldn't say), to a place known as the Shadow Realm; the very same Shadow Realm that those Rare Hunters, as Odion called them, said that Frisk would be banished to had she lost to Mako.

"The catch with these cards was that only one with a connction to the ancients could wield them properly. Besides, they cost three Tributes to even summon."

"Wow."

"Exactly. As Tombkeepers, the Ishtars were the guardians of the Egyptian God Cards, as well as two powerful Millennium Items: the Rod and Necklace. However, the Ishtar's young son, Marik, wanted to escape the family destiny. Our father refused to let him slide, but I was always sticking up for him. Once, Marik and his sister Ishizu snuck out to see the world. When Father learned of this, he readied his whip, furious that his children had disobeyed him. I decided to take their punishment. It was painful, but Marik built a great trust for me."

Frisk was now immersed in Odion's story of family and friendship. "Go on! I want to know what happened to this Marik! Is he okay? Did he ever escape, or is he still in the caves?"

Odion sighed, obviously wanting to avoid the topic of Marik's fate but knowing he had to tell this girl.. "He did escape, but I'm afraid it was not in a very happy way. Trust me, the hatred that ritual would give Marik for our family changed our lives forever..."

* * *

Chara was now questioning how the duel she was witnessing could possibly end. Yugi's Life Points were very low, and, as Slifer the Sky Dragon, the aforementioned Egyptian God Card, gained ATK for each card Marik held, the evil overlord protected the great serpent with his Revival Jam. Yugi couldn't possibly win, could he?

The boy drew- and then, thought. There seemed to be no way he could win this. Then, he must have seen a huge flaw in Marik's mighty five-card combo. He suddenly knew what to do. "I'll activate Brain Control, using my Life Points to take your Revival Jam! Then, I'll attack your Sky Dragon with it!"

"You're making your biggest mistake, Pharaoh! Attacking with Revival Jam will cost you the duel!"

"I don't think so, because I'm activating my trap, Spirit Barrier! Now, I can't take Battle Damage if I control a monster. Then, since Revival JAm revives itself, you draw three cards."

"Gladly! All you're doing is strengthening my monster so it can attack you next turn!"

"Next turn. Do you really think that's going to happen?"

Chara suddenly remembered how she had exploited a huge flaw in Bonz' Red-Eyes Zombie Dragon. Perhaps Yugi had found a similar flaw in Slifer?

"Now, Slifer's second mouth," Yugi continued, "attacks Revival Jam, destroying it... and then reviving it again, meaning you draw three more cards!"

He had.

"Slifer attacks it again, destroying it and reviving it, and making you draw three more times!"

Marik was shocked. "No, it's not possible! Attack, then revive, then draw, then attack, then revive, then draw... Each event triggers the next, in a never ending cycle, until... NO!"

He had run out of cards. As any duelist knows, decking out is a rather rare loss condition. However, the lock that Yugi had set up didn't lie; Marik had to run out of cards, whether he wanted to or not.

* * *

Odion continued his tale to an eager Frisk. "One day, Father told Marik that it was the day of the Tombkeeper's Initiation. I asked to take Marik's place- the sacred ritual was bound to be quite painful- but he refused. I could hear Marik's screams from the room he grounded me to that day."

Frisk nearly fell over. "What? Did he die?"

"No, but he may as well have. I later learned why the ritual was so painful. As it turns out, in order to consecrate Marik as a tombkeeper, our father was obligated to carve ancient scriptures and lore into his back using the Millennium Rod."

"Ouch."

"As I may have gone over, Marik was furious with him. A few days later, I came to him to show him that I had carved marks into my face, to prove my loyalty. Marik eventually got ahold of the Rod and two of the Egyptian God Cards, though, and, in his rage, used the knife concealed in the rod to kill our father..."

Frisk's eyes were beginning to well up with tears. "How... But he was such... such a good guy! All he wanted was to see the world!"

"And that he did," Odion said, begining his story's end. "The two of us left, and Marik arranged the Rare Hunters, a group of several men who were promised rare cards in exchange for Obelisk the Tormentor, and the remaining Millennium Items. He felt that, as wielder of the ancient scriptures, he deserved the Pharaoh's power. His rage had still not subsided, and I was bound to..."

"Bound to help him? Well, I can see why..."

Odion turned away. "I'm sorry. Maybe I made a massive mistake in leaving him. If I cannot keep his soul in check, then we are doomed."

Frisk turned. "I see. You weren't working for him to protect _him_... you were protecting the world _from_ him."

"Honestly, it was both. Farewell, Frisk. I shall hope to see you again soon..."

* * *

Later, deep in the forest...

"Odion! Boy, I say, are we glad to see you!"

"Heck yeah! Master Marik got real scary for a bit there!"

"I see... Perhaps I can calm him. Let's go...

...hey, want any drinks along the way?"

* * *

Frisk was deep in thought. Marik wasn't truly evil, the way Odion had put it, and all that was necessary to change him was... Well, she didn't know that. But there was nothing that could keep her from trying. Marik's story had really been a sad one: a young boy becoming a powerful evil warlord in order to get revenge on an oppressive father, it seemed. And with a story like that, Frisk felt like she had to help Marik, without corrupting herself.

If only she knew how...

* * *

 **So yeah... I think that ties up the loose ends on Odion, _and_ tells Frisk just who Marik is. I did forget, though, to point out the true allegiances of Alphys and Undyne amongst the Rare Hunters. Wow.**

 **Of course, I added Spirit Barrier to Yugi's deck because it makes the duel seem winnable. In the actual show, the strategy was so screwy with the rules (cough, activating Brain Control on a still-reviving Revival Jam, cough) that it was completely impractical. Besides, I just really like Spirit Barrier. It seems like the sort of card Yugi would use, anyway.**

 **So. In the next episode I was thinking of incarnating myself as an opponent, and the protagonist would probably be either Asriel or Chara. I've been focusing on Frisk a bit too much in the last few chapters, in my opinion. Sure, it's her story, but I have to give the other two at least some spotlight, right?**


	12. The Magnetic Master

**Let me clear something up: the character of Dan Michaels is my OC made to represent me. Truth be told, I've always wanted to use a Magnet deck. Big issue? Money. Or, rather, lack of it. That's why he uses it in here- he's a fan-made duelist and he probably STILL needs a bigger wallet than me.**

* * *

 **Chapter Twelve**

 **The Magnetic Master**

"So... Marik's the bad guy, and you're trying to stop him."

Chara and Yugi were sitting across from each other at the cafe, enjoying a seasoned talk about their decks and their reasons for being in the tournament. Yugi nodded. "That's what I thought. So, what's his deal?"

"From what I can tell, he wants to use the power of the Egyptian God Cards and my Millennium Puzzle to get the power of the Pharaoh, or something like that. I can't quite tell. The only thing I do know is that he's using his Millennium Rod and his servants, the Rare Hunters, to procure these resources. That mime, Strings, was one of them."

"Wait," Chara said, confused. "I thought Marik _was_ the mime."

"I guess you could say that," Yugi decided. "Technically, he _was_ the one dueling, because that Millennium Rod lets him control minds."

She was still somewhat confused, but since Yugi had cleared that issue up for her, she wasn't quite as perplexed as before. She stood up. "Mom, can we have seconds?"

At the exact same time, a second duelist, Dan Michaels, known for his Magnet Deck, stood up. "I'd like more pie too, Miss Dreemur!"

Toriel shook her head. 'I'm afraid I only have one slice left. Only one of you can have seconds until I make more."

Yugi shook his head. "It's alright. I wasn't hungry for more anyways..."

Chara turned to Dan. "Still, there's just one piece left..."

They then both proceded to say "Dibs!" at the same time, followed by "No, it's mine!"

Toriel sighed. "I could always just split it..."

Both: "NEVER!"

(P.S.: This single argument shows just how good Toriel's butterscotch-cinnamon pies actually are. Also, it was at this moment that Yugi began to back away from the table...slowly...)

"She's my mom!"

"Well, that's just weird! Besides, I was here before you!"

"But I asked first!"

Toriel made the mistake of trying to intercede. "Children, calm down. Perhaps there is a way we could settle this without fighting? Perhaps you could, I don't know, flip a coin? Play a card game? Roll a die?"

The boy nodded. "I vote card game!"

Chara suddenly realized what he was implying. "You...You want to duel, don't you?"

"Of course! And you're going to lose!"

"We'll see about that!"

* * *

Frisk had been pondering Odion's words of Marik ever since leaving the tent. She was wodering how a person like his father could even be so harsh on a son so... gentle. It was just... cruel. Too much. She was really beginning to think of this when she bumped into somebody.

"Argh! Watch where you're going, you fool- oh, wait, where are my manners?"

Frisk looked at the man she had just crashed into. He had white-blonde hair, two hanging earrings, and piercing blue eyes. If this man didn't match Odion's description of Marik, then she may as well jump in the lake, call herself Fishy-Wishy-Woo, and try to breathe underwater.

"It's okay," she said. "I wasn't looking where I was going. As for your manners, I think they're buried in your father's tomb... Marik!"

Marik was startled that the outsider knew his name _and_ his past, as well as having the guts to insult him. But that didn't matter now. He had just thought of a way to make his task of defeating Yugi easier. While Dreemur's will may be too strong for his Millennium Rod, her heart may be fragile to fighting. Perhaps, if he could borrow the Millennium Necklace from Alphys...

"I'm sorry if my Rare Hunters caused you any trouble, perhaps they had no idea that they were picking on such a powerful youth."

Frisk knew that Marik was probably just trying to appeal to her, but she decided to play along anyways. "Huh, you think I'm powerful?"

"Of course. Wielding those Elemental Heroes takes a tad bit of skill, doesn't it?"

"Well, I _have_ been making it easier," Frisk added. "I've just added Prisma and Ocean, y'know, for faster fusions and monster retrieval."

"Very interesting..." Marik muttered. He then raised his voice to an audible level. "Perhaps the Rare Hunters could use someone as powerful as you, young Dreemur."

"Not likely," Frisk denied. "I'm not joining a group off evil soul-snatchers."

"I can see your concern, but rest assured that your friends will be unharmed. In fact, one of them has already given their allegiance to me."

"You're lying! My friends would never join a creep like you!"

"Try me. This particular individual would give anything to aid me. They even became one of my most trusted commanders, behind Odion, of course."

Frisk knew just how loyal to Marik that Odion was. Odion would give his life to save Marik, or to help him complete his goals. Just thinking that one of her friends could be anywhere near that level was absurd!

"I'll give you until the finals to decide," Marik said. "In the meantime, I'd like to give you these cards to aid your heroes in battle..."

Frisk looked at the cards. "...Evil Heroes? That doesn't even make any sense!"

"Neither does being the daughter of a baking-knowledgable goat lady. Besides, you'll find that these new cards will be of.. assistance to your deck."

"Yeah, I see that they're formed with my heroes."

"That's the point."

Frisk was suddenly unsure whether Marik was truly a villain- and that was the idea. "I'll... I'll think about it, Marik. In the meantime, tell Odion that I said 'hi.'"

"Will do, thanks."

* * *

 **DAN: 4000**

 **CHARA: 4000**

"Let's duel!" said Dan. "I'll start with the Magnetic Field card, along with Delta the Magnet Warrior! Now, I use Delta to send a Magnet Warrior in my deck to the Graveyard, and it's gonna be Gamma... but now, my Magnetic Field activates, and Delta uses his magnetism to pull Gamma back from the Graveyard in attack position! I set one card and end!"

` "I draw..."

"I activate my Rock Bombardment card! I'm sending my Valkyrion the Magna Warrior from my deck to the Graveyard to deal you five hundred points of damage!"

"Well... I'll set a monster and a trap face down each, and activate my Cards of the Red Stone! Now, I send the Red-Eyes Black Dragon from my hand and the Red-Eyes Zombie Dragon in my deck to the Graveyard, and in return, I get to draw two cards. Your move."

"I'll draw... and summon Alpha, the Electromagnet Warrior! This card's effect lets me add a Magna Warrior to my hand. I'll add... my second Valkyrion!"

"Well!" Chara countered. "I activate Red-eyes Spirit, calling back the Red-eyes Black Dragon I discarded earlier!"

Dan looked somewhat impressed. "I'll attack your facedown monster with Alpha!"

The monster she had set- the Red-eyes Retro Dragon- was destroyed.

"I switch Gamma and Delta into defense mode. Your move."

Chara looked at him. "Ready? I draw! I sacrifice my Red-Eyes Black Dragon to Special Summon the Red-Eyes Darkness Dragon! Then, I summon my Black Stone of Legend, and use its effect to summon a second Red-Eyes Black Dragon from my deck. Now, your Electromagnet Warrior is about to get pummeled by my Darkness Dragon, along with 1600 of your Life Points!"

"Not so fast! I play Alpha's second ability, which lets me swap him for a different Magnet Warrior. I'll choose my non-electro Alpha, in Defense mode. Since he's in Defense mode, I don't take damage, but there's more. Since you attacked my Magnet Warrior and your monster didn't die, Magnetic Field now sends your dragon back to your hand!"

"Ugh! Well, I still have my normal Red-Eyes. And he's gonna do a huge number on Gamma!"

Shards of red rock flew across the battlefield. "If you don't mind, I'm gonna end my turn."

"I don't mind at all. I summon a second Delta, sending Beta the Magnet Warrior to the Graveyard."

"Then I'll draw... and activate Red-Eyes Fusion! I fuse the Meteor Dragon Red-Eyes Impact in my deck with the Red-Eyes Black Flare Dragon on my field! I summon Meteor Black Comet Dragon in Attack Mode, and this monster uses its effect! I send Red-Eyes Black Metal Dragon to the Graveyard to deal you 1400 points of damage. It's over, Dan. You shouldn't have summoned Delta in Attack mode."

"Trust me," he said, smirking, "it was intentional."

"Argh, enough! Meteor Black Comet Dragon, attack Delta!"

Dan looked through the damage... and smiled. "Ha! You've only helped me to summon my best monster!"

"What?"

"When Delta goes to the Graveyard, I can banish him and my three Magnet Warriors from my Graveyard, and summon a Valkyrion from my hand or deck, which means the Valkyrion in my deck now appears!"

Valkyrion was a remarkable sight. He seemed to be made of pieces from all three Magnet Warriors, and his sword was massive, about as tall as Chara had she stood it up.

"But there's more."

"MORE?"

"Of course! Have you forgotten about my Magnetic Field?"

Chara was taken aback. This kid's strategy was unstoppable! She could only watch in horror as her monster fizzled back into the Extra Deck. She sighed in dismay. "Well, there's always your other Delta to destroy..."

"Good thing that one's in defense mode. Are you done?"

"...of course...right after I set this card."

* * *

"Odion, fetch me my Duel Disk. It's time to practice for the finals."

"But Master Marik..." Odion began, "that card is just too strong to use in training!"

"I never said that I would use it to train," Marik said. "I'm putting it in my Side Deck. The reason I want to train is as punishment for leaving me yesterday without notice."

"I'm sorry."

"No matter," Marik added. "I am starting to take a liking to Frisk Dreemur, though, the kid's a natural. We could use someone like her amongst the Rare Hunters. Whilst the Millennium Rod may not work, her own feelings might."

"I'm not exactly sure what you mean, Marik."

"Simple. When she plays an Evil Hero, her own feelings will begin to contradict themselves. Then, when her opponent is defeated, the Evil Hero will injure them so bad, she will know where a deck like hers belongs."

"How are you so sure she won't just remove the cards from her deck? Or stop dueling altogether?"

"I asked that lizard if I could borrow Ishizu's necklace for a moment. It turns out she used to be a time traveller of sorts, and in one timeline, she and that Chara girl who saw my riverside duel murdered every monster in the underground. The spree wouldn't have stopped there, if Chara hadn't become apprehensive."

"Apprehensive, Marik?"

"Even a demon has feelings, Odion. When Frisk refused to erase the void of a timeline the two were now in, Chara took matters into her own hands. She reset the timeline herself, and when that happened, they both forgot about the whole thing."

"So, you're saying..."

"I'm saying that when she plays those cards, Odion," Marik explained, "her dark past will come to light! She will remember her foul work, and realize where scum of her kind belongs!"

"Ah. I see, Master Marik."

* * *

 **DAN: 0700**

 **CHARA: 4000**

"I draw! I summon Beta the Electromagnet Warrior, and this card lets me add another Magnet Warrior to my hand. I add Gamma the Electromagnet Warrior! Now, I use my Magnetic Field, and pull Alpha the Electromagnet Warrior from my graveyard. Alpha's effect, and I add Berserkion the Electromanga Warrior. Then... POLYMERIZATION! I fuse Berserkion with Valkyrion! Imperion Magnum, the Superconductive Battlebot, is my true champion, and I'll prove it! Imperion, attack Red-Eyes Black Dragon!

Chara took the hit... and smiled. "Ha! Now I'll show you! I activate Red-Eyes Burn! We now each take 2400 points of damage! It's a tie!"

"Ugh... Then we do have to split the slice of pie."

"Actually..." Toriel was looking quite embarassed. "I, erm, well, uh..."

Chara began to worry. "What, Mom?"

"I, uh... ate it myself."

"Alright, you hold her down, and I'll slap her in the face."

"Dan!"

"Come on, she deserves it! Besides, you're not the one slapping her."

"...Fair enough."

* * *

 **So, to recap:**

 **Marik wants to make Frisk a Rare Hunter by toying with her emootions.**

 **Toriel has probably learned never to eat the prize herself, even if she forgets that it's a prize.**

 **And Yugi is in a position wher he might think Chara is crazy.**

 **Yep. This was all planned.**


	13. Murderous Memory

**Hoo, boy. Chapter thirteen? That means something terrible will happen!**

 **In all reality though, I decided to improve a little on the Millennium Scale. Just soul judgement has almost no practical use, you know.**

 **Also, you may have noticed that I removed the prologue. That's because it just changes the chapter order when it comes to reviews.**

* * *

 **Chapter Thirteen**

 **Murderous Memory**

I cannot elaborate enough on Frisk's indecisiveness. It is something that could determine the fate of the world, and with one wrong move, everything could fall apart. If she joined the Rare Hunters, she could be reunited with a friend. Perhaps they could rule the world together. But that didn't seem too much of a happy ending for anyone else. However, it might answer some lingering questions about her past. Perhaps Marik had some magical power to see through space and time? It all seemed like too much for her right now.

Add this to the fact that these "Evil Heroes" just seemed too powerful _not_ to use, and it seemed that Marik could be mixing her, a close friend, Millennium Items, and Egyptian God Cards into one massive recipe for disaster. She was thinking about all of this when she ran into somebody. Geez, when could she _not_ crash into a bystander? Or had he crashed into her? He wouldn't look out of place amongst the Ishtars, that's for sure. He wore a turban, and had similar piercing eyes to Marik.

"I'm sorry!" the man yelled, and ran off in a different direction. Frisk heard a loud "clang" next to her. Had the man dropped something? Before she could respond, a group of Rare Hunters rushed right past her. They seemed to be chasing the man in the turban. Why, she could not be certain.

She looked down at what had made the clanging sound. "Hey, mister! You dropped something... wait."

The object she was holding was a golden scale, equally balanced on each side. That is, a golden scale with an eye carved into the middle.

It couldn't be. It just couldn't.

But then again, the man _did_ have that "ancient Egyptian" feel...

Either she was going to need a psychiatrist, or... she was holding the real, actual Millennium Scale in her hands, right now. The one that was a lie detector. The one that could also judge the good in one's soul. Impossible. She probably needed the psychiatrist.

But then, why was it so cold and heavy in her hands if she was hallucinating?

It was real. No wonder the Rare Hunters were after that man. He had a Millennium Item! Marik wanted these things, bad.

"Hey, kid! What are you doing over there?"

 _...Aaaand Undyne's here, too. Great._

"We're lucky you're alive, punk! You should have seen Papyrus, he was making plate after plate of spaghetti to try to entice you to come back!"

"He knows that won't work, right?" Even as Frisk said these words, she didn't believe them. Papyrus seemed to be under the impression that everyone who had tried his spaghetti, even a tiny bit, was in love with his cooking.

"...Just out of curiosity, what's that?"

"Oh, this?" As much as Frisk wanted Undyne to stay out of the Drama of the Ishtars, she had to tell Undyne what the thing was. Maybs she could describe it in a non-identafiable way, a way which she wouldn't believe. "I think it's some sort of ancient Egyptian lie detector. Maybe a good-o-meter or something. I don't know."

The Scale tipped left, but Frisk didn't let Undyne see that. It was obviously real. I mean, it knew that she knew, and she didn't know that it knew that she knew, and she knew it tipped since it knew she knew when she said she didn't know that she knew...

Whew. That was crazy, right? I know.

"Hey, while we're here, punk, how about a quick duel?"

"Huh You want to duel?"

"Yeah," Undyne said. "I think you need a quick refresher on reality. You need three locator cards, so I say it's all or nothing, and besides, you still have my card."

"Oops!" Frisk said, taken aback. "I completely forgot! As for those terms, you're on!"

"Alright, let's get started!"

* * *

"I see the young Dreemur is facing off against Undyne. Well, that won't be an issue. After all, I have enough spare locator cards that the loser may make it into the finals regardless."

"Marik, I don't see why you think this kid is going to help you. I met them, and they're a hero to their friends."

"Patience. That Millennium Scale is bound to aid me in some way. And besides, this duel was planned by me from the beginning."

"I'm not sure I understand. You knew that Undyne and Frisk would meet right at this moment?"

"I told Undyne to wait there because she was still missing her best card. And besides, she's still under my control, Odion. If I can get that through to Dreemur, perhaps I can provoke her rage."

"Genius! I couldn't have thought any better of the situation, Master Marik!"

"Indeed, Odion. Prepare yourself. The finals are almost upon us, and I have a place in them!"

* * *

"Let's duel!"

"Alright!' Undyne was definitely ready for this. "I draw, and play my Saber Shark in Attack Position! Then, I'll play the effect of the Shark Stickers in my hand to Special Summon the card! Saber Shark can now cut its Level by one, and that means I can Xyz Summon my Submersible Carrier Aeroshark! Your move."

"I draw..." Frisk smiled. "I set one monster and two face down. Go ahead."

"That's it? Wow, this really _is_ too easy. I summon... Spear Shark! This card can attack your monster, and you'll still take damage if he's in Defense mode!"

"I'm afraid not. My monster is Elemental HERO Woodsman, who has 2000 defense points. Your Spear Shark has an ATK of 1600, meaning you take four hundred points of damage!"

"Well, I'll counter that soon enough. I end my turn with two face down cards."

"Then it's my turn." Frisk drew her next card. "I activate Woodsman's special ability, which lets me fish up a Polymerization from my deck!"

"Fish up?"

"Pun intended."

That was a bad joke. Frisk realized that she really should choose better words next time, or she'd end up like Sans: old, dead, and full of bad jokes.

"Now I play my Polymerization to fuse my Woodsman with a hero in my hand, Ocean. I'm making a brand new hero: Terra Firma! With 2500 attack points, he'll shred your monsters, but that's not all. I also summon a second hero to join him: Elemental Hero Prisma! Now, Terra Firma attacks Aeroshark, and Prisma attacks Spear Shark.

"I play my trap, Spellbinding Circle. So much for Aeroshark's death."

"Well, Spear Shark isn't so lucky!"

Spear Shark was destroyed in an instant. Frisk smiled. Undyne growled. _I see what Marik meant when he said you were strong,_ she thought. _But I'm strong, too!_

"I summon Eagle Shark and Panther Shark together with their effects!" she bellowed. "I'll overlay them to Xyz Summon my Shark Fortress in Attack Mode! Now, prepare yourself! Shark Fortress attacks Prisma!"

Frisk smiled. "You've attacked into my trap, Terra Firma Gravity! Now, all of your monsters below level five...automatically attack Terra Firma!"

"But Xyz monsters don't have levels..."

"...which judges their levels at zero! Come on, you're not even trying that hard!"

"NGAAAAHHHH! Just give up already! I activate the Quick-Play spell, Rush Recklessly! This card gives Shark Fortress 700 additional attack points this turn, allowing it to destroy Terra Firma!"

"Then I activate Hero Barrier, negating this attack! Besides, haven't you forgotten about your other shark?"

"Wait... Aeroshark can still attack!"

"And that means it _will_ attack. Terra Firma is going to wipe it out, along with 600 life points!"

"Not if I activate Diamond Dust! This trap destroys Aeroshark and deals you 500 points of damage! I then set one card and end my turn!"

 **UNDYNE: 3500**

 **FRISK: 3500**

"Good move, I say. Let's see what I can do... Oh, I know! I'll start, in my Draw Phase, with De-Fusion! This card seperates Terra Firma back into Ocean and Woodsman. Now, Woodsman's effect will let me add another Polymerization card to my hand. I'll play Elemental Hero Sparkman in attack mode! Then I'll activate Prisma's special ability. Once per turn, I can send an Elemental Hero from my deck to the Graveyard, and Prisma becomes that hero! I'll send...Elemental Hero Clayman! Now I play Polymerization, combining Prisma with Sparkman to create Elemental Hero Thunder Giant! Now, with Thunder Giant's effect, I discard my Elemental Hero Avian from my hand and.. destroy your Shark Fortress! Now, I attack you directly with Thunder Giant and Ocean!"

Undyne smirked. She winked. She flipped a card over. And of course, that card was Mirror Force.

As Undyne would have said: "NGAAAAHHHH!"

Frisk set one, and Undyne drew. "I play my spell, Soul Charge, reviving my Saber Shark at the cost of 1000 life points.. Now, I summon a second Spear Shark, and attatched to it is a second Shark Stickers. Next, I play Saber Shark's ability, and I change my Shark Stickers' level to four. Now, I'll overlay my three sharks! I think you know who's coming now, punk!"

Unfortunately, Frisk did know who was coming. It was the monster that Frisk had gone overboard to return to Undyne. It was the monster who was nearly indestructible, since nobody ever had a Number Card to stand up. This monster could mean the doom of Frisk's cards, and her life points.

Number thirty-two.

"I Xyz Summon ...SHARK DRAKE!"

Oh, and a powerful monster, Shark Drake was! The power of this card far exceeded the power of any card Frisk had faced. There was no excuse for victory, in Undyne's eyes- or, more accurately, eye.

"Shark Drake, destroy Woodsman!"

"Since you just destroyed a monster," Frisk said, "I play Hero Signal. This trap lets me summon a hero straight out of my deck, so I summon... Burstinatrix, in defense mode!"

"Don't you get it? You're only one turn away from defeat! I activate Shark Drake's ability, bringing back Woodsman in attack mode with 1000 less attack points- meaning zero! And that's not the best part... now my Shark Drake can attack him again!"

 **UNDYNE: 2500**

 **FRISK: 0700**

"You're finished."

"I still have life points, so it's not over!" Frisk proclaimed, drawing. "I play Card of Sanctity! We now each draw cards until we hold six in our hands. Then, I play O-Oversoul, reviving Avian, as well as Enemy Controller! I'm switching your Shark Drake into defense mode with this card!"

"What an idiot."

"Huh?" Frisk was confused. This seemed a bit too... Flowey-esque to come out of Undyne's mouth.

"You could have used Enemy Controller to tribute your hero and take my Number Card. That could have won you the duel, but I guess you're just too **STUPID** to understand..."

Now Frisk was questioning if she was even facing Undyne anymore. She would have run to grab a bucket of cold water if Undyne didn't drop a huge bomb next-

"Then again, you did outplay me until now. Perhaps Marik was right, after all."

"Wait, Marik? It can't be... he was telling the truth? You work for him now?" As she said this, she pulled out her scale, waiting for Undyne's response.

"It's true. Every single bit. You see, all I needed to do was to get you here to defeat you. You getting the Millennium Scale from Shadi just makes it better."

To Frisk's utter horror, the scale tipped... right. It was true. Every word. She became filled with rage. Why would Undyne do this? Was Frisk really a moron? Suddenly, Frisk's thoughts opened up, giving more hate to Undyne. She knew it was all true, and didn't stop to question anything.

* * *

"No... My body. It feels like, any second now, it's gonna shatter into a million pieces..."

 _"Good. That's what it should do."_

"But... there's this burning feeling, deep in my soul, that won't let me die. You... This isn't just about monsters anymore, is it?"

 _"Took you long enough..."_

"If you get past ASGORE, you'll kill them all. Monsters. Humans. Everyone. But I WON'T let that happen."

" _Yes, you will, you dumb fish._ "

"You don't understand. Right now, everyone in the whole world... I can feel their hearts beating as one with mine, and we all have one goal."

" _Oh, tell me, please."_

"To defeat YOU."

 _"Fat chance!"_

"Human... No, whatever you are. For the sake of the whole world... I, UNDYNE, WILL STRIKE YOU DOWN!"

(Frisk attempts to smack Undyne with a shoe, but misses. Undyne then impales her with a spear.)

"You're gonna have to try harder than THAT."

* * *

Ten times had she killed everyone, and ten times, Undyne had stood in her way. Frisk didn't worry. Undyne only gaveher problems the first four times. The fifth one onward, she was a piece of cake. Still, it was time for a bit of payback for those forty-eight death.

"I'm afraid that there's sommething I have to introduce to you, Undyne."

"Something called... REVENGE. I play Dark Fusion, fusing Burstinatrix with Avian! I create the warrior of darkness who shall plunge your soul into the shadows... Evil HERO Inferno Wing!"

Undyne managed to regain control of her mind, finally realizing what the evil version had been doing. But it was too late. Frisk was full of darkness, and she couldn't quite tell why. Unless... those dreams. Those visions of massacres. They must be alternate timelines. It was just... no. No, no, no, no, NO! What had she done? This was a terrible mistake! Now one of her best friends was a genocidial megalomaniac, and even Chara couldn't stop her this time.

"Now I play H-Heated Heart, increasing Inferno Wing's attack power by five hundred points and granting her piercing damage. Then, I play Skill Drain to removs Shark Drake's effect!"

"No... I activate my Mystical Space Typhoon to negate it!"

"Then I play a second Skill Drain. It's like you said: You're gonna have to try harder than THAT."

No. It was impossible! Undyne couldn't lose now! The whole world depended on it!

...But there was nothing she could do.

"Inferno Wing attacks Shark Drake, and the piercing effect deals you 500 points of damage. Now, Inferno Wing! Activate your effect, and use the power of her monster to give us victory! Deal her damage for each attack point her useless monster had!"

No...

Noooooo!

"I'm afraid your job is done, Undyne." said Frisk, pulling out the Millennium Scale.

"Good night."

* * *

(Several hours later...)

Toriel:"Oh, my! Yes, my children, I _will_ make another pie for the two of you! Asriel getting card six is a joyous occasion, he'll be in the finals! We just need to find-"

Chara:"Oh my gosh. She didn't..."

Asriel:"What didn't she do, Chara? And why is she on the ground?"

Chara:"I'm not talking about Undyne, Asriel. It looks like I need to see Frisk again, real soon."

Asriel:"But why?"

Chara:"Old business, Asriel."

Asriel:"And how didn't I know about this 'old business?'"

Chara:"Trust me, it's not something you want to know about."

* * *

" _I came before the finals, just like you asked, Marik."_

"That was rather ruthless, my friend. You know, taking your friend's SOUL."

" _We aren't friends. Not now, not ever."_

"Well, my new commander... Ready for the finals?"

" _Definitely_."

* * *

 **I've decided that no more things about the plot are going to change. This is officially the canon, from now until the finals. However, I feel like I must elaborate on some things first."**

 **1, Shadi. I know he's technically a ghost or something, but the whole runaway scene just made it a better story. Besides, what spirit would disappear in public? And anyways, I really wanted to dump a Millennium Item onto Frisk.**

 **2, the Millennium Scale itself. It has the power to judge the honesty of one's soul- so it makes perfect sense to turn it into a lie detector.**

 **3, Prisma. I know how his effect works, but it still makes sense to transform him in the story. It follows the rules, too, as long as I don't adjust his ATK and DEF when he changes.**

 **4, Shark Drake and Card of Sanctity. I'm using the anime rulings for these cards- and all Numbers in general, if I add more- because without them, Shark Drake would die too easy for his cost in my opinion and Card of Sanctity's TCG/OCG print is terrible.**

 **And 5, Asriel. I decided that, in any case, even in a missing persons case, Asriel would still be dueling. It makes sense for him to be, at least, the second main character to enter the finals (the first being Frisk).**

 **As for Chara, I think it's about time the plot began to focus on her. Asriel would just get stale, of course, being essentially the Joey to Chara's Yugi, and I wanted to throw in ten past Genocide Runs as a plot twist that would affect Frisk large enough. In the end, she would just be a good main character, having managed to SAVE what was left of Frisk's innocent side once, she might do it again. In terma of Locator Cards, I would put Chara at four. Next up: A two point Chara Vs. Mai duel to determine the last Finalist!**


	14. A Harpie's Cry

**let's just get to the point.**

* * *

 **Chapter 14**

 **A Harpie's Cry**

After everything that Chara had thought of, she still felt like Frisk had done something involving the theft or destruction of SOULs in the past. She just knew that Frisk wouldn't take Undyne's soul without some proper incentive; no, she would NEVER take Undyne's soul, even if it was absolutely necessary. Perhaps it had been Marik? But the crime lord was targeting Yugi, not a random fish lady. Or maybe the Rare Hunters had simply wanted her card? No, it couldn't be. Anyone the Rare Hunters simply targeted would just lose their card, not their SOUL. What a mystery.

And to think that she and one lucky opponent might duke it out for the final spot in the finals was highly inconcievable. There were many duelists in Battle City, and one of them was bound to get their final Locator Card before she did. But she should still press on. After all, it would only be a short time until the final duelist was decided.

* * *

Meanwhile, Asriel knocked on the door to Papyrus' house. Papyrus had lost earlier, but that meant he kept up support for Asriel. The boy thought about what to say about his decision on his deck for the finals.

(From behind the door) "paps, you've got a visitor."

"THEN GET THE DOOR FOR THEM!"

"i can't exactly do that right now."

"WHAT? WHY?"

"i'm pretending to be a potato."

"HOW DOES THAT PREVENTYOU FROM ANSERING THE DOOR?"

"it's a couch potato." (Insert rimshot here)

"ARGH! I'LL JUST GET IT, THEN!

The door opened. Papyrus was pleased to see Asriel, but he got mad when he realized that the young prince had been laughing at Sans' joke.

"So... Those cards you gave me for the tournament...I'm not bringing 'em to the finals."

"WHAT? 'B-BUT WHY? ITHOUGHT THEY WERE AMAZING CARDS! YOU BEAT SANS WITH THEM!"

"It's just..." Asriel didn't want to hurt Papyrus' feelings, but he had to use the other deck. For justice.

"You see," he explained, "one of the other finalists took Undyne's soul and her Locator Cards. I think it would only honor her to use her deck in the finals, y'know?"

"...I SEE. IT MAKES SENSE, TOO. MR. KAIBA PROBABLY WOULDN'T TAKE TOO KINDLY TO A DUELIST LOSING THEIR SOUL IN HIS TOURNAMENT, AND UNDYNE WOULD MAKE SURE NOTHING LIKE THAT HAPPENED. SHE'D. WANT YOU TO USE HER DECK."

"Yeah, I thought so. And for your sake, I'm gonna show everyone, even Mr. Kaiba, just how a monster can duel as hard as we have. I still haven't met any of the other finalists, though."

"don't worry," Sans threw in. "frisk's bound to make it, and so's chara. it's just in her 'chara'cter to win."(Insert rimshot)

"BE QUIET, SANS!"

"ok. where's quiet? i have to be them, right? (Rimshot.)

"PLEASE LEAVE, PRINCE ASRIEL. I THINK I'M GOING TO GIVE SANS A BAD TIME."

* * *

It was around this time that Chara had run into her opponent. Unfortunately, it was Mai Valentine, a duelist with world class skills and a frightening Harpie deck. It was much more powerful than an average deck, obviously; this became most evident with the arrival of the Harpie's Pet Phantasmal Dragon in a duel Chara witnessed.

Ohhhh, how she should have chosen her opponent more carefully. Now she and Mai were face to face, deck to deck. She said that part of why she wanted to win this tournament was because she wanted to be the best, but a lot of her focus was on defeating Yugi's best friend, Joey Wheeler. Apparently, he beat her due to sheer dumb Time Wizard luck back in the Duelist Kingdom tournament, but what made it even worse was that this specific duel was Joey's first clash in an official tournament. Chara knew what determination itself was, and this lady was full of it- or, at least, when she wanted to be.

"Listen, hon," said Mai, "if you want to back out and find someone your own size, fine by me. I'm just saying that you might be biting off more than you can chew."

"I'm no pipsqueak duelist. I'll prove that!" Chara exclaimed. "And I'll begin using my Red-Eyes Wyvern! I'll drop a Set card, and end my turn."

"If you think that pathetic reptile scares me, then you've got another thing coming!" Mai pulled a card out of her hand. "And just to ensure my victory," Mai continued, "I think I'll give my harpies a bit of a homefield advantage! Welcome to the land of my Field Spell, Harpie's Hunting Ground! Now, I'll summon... my Harpie Queen in Attack position! Now, the effects of my hunting ground activate!"

"Wait, that card does MORE?"

"Of course, darling," Mai teased. "Then again, a precious little kiddo like you could never understand the card anyway."

"I'm thirteen."

"You're still a runt to me. Meanwhile, my Harpie's Hunting Ground not only gives my Harpie Queen 200 additional attack points, it also gives her the power to wipe out your Set card!" Chara's card, the Red-Eyes Spirit, vanished fromn the field as the Harpie Queen viciously slashed through it. Chara was actually starting to sweat.

"Now, for my attack! Harpie Queen, slice her Wyvern!" The elegant beast swooped down at the monster, and went berserk. The monster was entirely shredded, and Chara wished that she hadn't looked. "I end my turn, Carrie."

 _Carrie, huh?_ Chara thought for a minute. _Maybe if I were to have some sort of nickname...Never mind._ "I draw. Then, I play Foolish Burial. This card lets me send any monster from my deck to the Graveyard. I'll choose the Red-Eyes Zombie Dragon!"

"A monster sent to the Graveyard? That's not gonna help you one bit."

"You'll see." Chara smirked. "I'll end my turn now."

"Come on, you have nothing!"

"I have something: my Wyvern's effect!"

"Wha-"

"You seem surprised, Mai." Chara began to grin. "Could it be that, in this vast world of dueling, your skills are as young as mine? I banish the monster to summon a Red-Eyes monster on my Graveyard!"

"Wait... That Foolish Burial-"

"...aided me in summoning that Red-Eyes Zombie Dragon!"

"...You may have a powerful zombie under your control, but it's just an undead copy of Joey's pathetic ace, which, may I remind you, he doesn't even have anymore. And I'll prove your failure in this turn! I'll start by summoning my Cyber Harpie in Attack mode!"

Chara thought. Then, she laughed. Hard.

"Why are you laughing, kid?" Mai was confused. "With both my hunting ground and my army of harpies, you should be terrified!"

"Except you don't HAVE your hunting ground anymore!" Chara began to smile. "You see, since you just summoned a harpie, your hunting ground makes that harpie destroy one Spell or Trap card on the field... but it's the only Spell on the field right now. And that means your Harpie's Hunting Ground is no more!"

Mai didn't have to re-read the card to know that she had goofed. Her Cyber Harpie went totally crazy, ravaging the already desolate field which was once Mai's hunting ground.

"No! Stop attacking my field, harpie!"

"She can't!" Chara announced triumphantly. "That is, not until it's all been reduced to rubble!"

Before long, the Cyber Harpie had destroyed the very field which she and her queen should have drawn power from. It was all gone in an instant. Well, that had gone just perfectly, hadn't it, Mai?

"I'm not done yet," Mai said. "Even without my hunting ground, my harpies are still over the capabilities of your Red-Eyes Zombie Dragon, and I'll prove it by outfitting my Harpie Queen with my Cyber Shield!" At this, armor identical to that of the Cyber Harpie clasped itself around her queen, and the elegant bird-woman began to twitch. "My Cyber Shield has the power to increase the attack power of one of my harpies by five hundred points," Mai explained. As she said this, Chara could tell that the harpie was feeling something other than strength.

"Are you even paying attention, girl? My harpie is just as strong as your zombie, and you're looking straight into her eyes, not scared a bit!" Mai was rather flustered at this point, but Chara was now beginning to growl.

"Don't you even care a bit for your cards? She's **crying**!"

"She's a trading card, dear," Mai said, as smooth as ever. "She can't feel anything. She's completely emotionless! She's just there to take orders, and that's that."

"That Cyber Shield isn't exactly painless, Mai!" Chara had flown into a full-on rage. "It's put your Harpie Queen in immense pain!"

"I just said," Mai threw in, "that it's perfectly fine. And it's supposed to be painful; how else do you expect the wiring in the armor to allign properly? It's supposed to go through her. That's what enhances her strength."

By now, you could practically tell that Chara was so angry that, had this story been in a cartoon, steam would have been pouring out her ears. "And you call that a good expense? That's your strongest harpie, and she's being injured by the very armor you planned to strengthen her with! It's like you don't even care about her!"

"You're just like Yugi, young lady." Mai had grown tired of hearing this same speech over and over again. "There's only one thing that matters to me, and that's winning. Maybe if you spent less time caring about the cards you put in your deck and more time fighting with them, you'd actually win a couple matches."

"I have won before!"

"And how many of those wins were by sheer dumb luck?" Chara couldn't answer: it seemed that _all_ of her victories were luck based. Her first duel against Frisk? Luck. Her duel against Bonz? Luck again. She couldn't think of a duel she hadn't won by luck... or was it luck? "Face it, kid. Your deck has about as much of a chance of winning this tournament as Joey has of ever finding a date."

"It's not luck!" Chara screamed. "The monsters in my deck trust me, and they always send me the power I need to defeat my enemies- which is a lot more than I think I can say for your cards, Mai!"

"Oh, yes, the Heart of the Cards, woo! Now I know that you've been hanging with Yugi for far too long. Now, I'm sacrificing my Harpie Queen in battle to destroy your Zombie Dragon!" Chara almost cried at Mai's heartlessness as the Harpie Queen sadly leapt to her death to destroy her dragon. The tears of the dying harpie eventually got to her. "Aww," teased Mai, "does Baby need a nap, because she doesn't like it when I say imaginary friends aren't real? Waaaahh! Waaaahhh!"

 **"SHUT UP, MAI!"**

"Come on, young lady. You're just upset that you were wrong about the fate of your deck. Now, Cyber Harpie! Attack her directly!"

The Cyber Harpie lashed out at Chara, wiping out 1800 more of her life points. She looked like she was ready to flood a city with tears.

"You... I... **YOU'RE SUCH A MEAN PERSON!** "

"Did you only just now realize that?" Mai said, her smile now bigger than before. "Do you think I got to where I am by being nice? I didn't think so."

Chara realized that she was right. She hadn't gotten to where she was at by being a good person. Chara was able to make out a solid memory, a memory of her and Frisk tearing up timelines. It was all the same as here.

"They're just monsters, Chara. They can't feel any pain, can they?"

Who had stopped Frisk from simply resetting everything and starting over, killing everything? Chara. And that meant that Mai's statements weren't just words. They were officially personal.

* * *

"Odion, you have a visitor," Marik said, obviously thrilled that a finalist had joined his band of Rare Hunters. "Make it quick, Frisk. We haven't got all day."

Marik walked out. Now, it was just them.

"I thought you wanted to stop Marik, not join him."

"What can I say?" Frisk had become quite accustomed to her old past. "It just feels so good to be so bad."

"I'm getting the feeling you took Marik's ideals to heart," Odion realized.

"Come on, opressive father, terrible ritual, hatred towards his entire family... I've been there. My dad's been absent, going exploring for the past three years. It'd been a wish to see the world, but when he stopped sending postcards, I felt like something was up." Ever since Asgore had left, Frisk had missed him. When he stopped writing home, it felt wrong, but now... "He abandoned us. Me... Asriel... Everyone. The whole 'terrible ritual' thing? I had to live through the same two days for a whole year, and the only way I broke free was saving my new goat brother! And as for the family hate, I've decided that once I beat my sister in the finals, her soul is going to be the last thing I'm going to take."

"Why spare her soul?"

"So she can feel all of the pain, all of the hatred, that Marik and I each have felt. Soulless, she wouldn't feel a thing, and that makes it no fun at all, Odion! After all, you did tell me that, in the course of duty to Marik, any particular enemies to him would have to feel massive torment."

Odion shuddered. It couldn't be! Maybe, just maybe, this kid could be even more evil than Marik!

* * *

Chara drew, her tears of rage beginning to boil. "I activate... Monster Reborn! This card lets me revive one monster from either Graveyard!"

"Come on, dear. Your dragon's just going to get shredded again."

"I'm not bringing back my dragon. The monster who will put an end to your evil torment towards your monsters... is _your Harpie Queen!_ "

Chara began to calm down as the harpie appeared on her side of the field. The youthful queen began to give a menacing glare at Mai. She jumped for a second, but then smiled. "Really? You revive the _weaker_ monster to defeat me? Wow. Dumber than you look."

"I'm not stupid. Your harpie's revenge will give me victory in this duel. I'll set one caqrd face down. Now, Harpie Queen! Attack and destroy Cyber Harpie!" The harpie, for the first time since her arrival, smiled. She leapt forward, gripping her former soldier with both talons. The following attack was rather much, but, seeing the satisfaction on the harpie's face, it was completely worth it.

"I think you've been underestimating my powers, girl. I summon Harpie Channler, and play two copies of Elegant Egotist! These cards will let me summon two more Cyber Harpies!" Two additional armored harpies, just as smug as the first, appeared next to Mai's channler. "Now, it's time to summon my ultimate monster! I overlay my three harpies and Xyz Summon! Here comes my best monster... Harpie's Pet Phantasmal Dragon!"

The ghostly form ofb a heavily chained dragon began to materialize before the whole dragon appeared. It was terrible to see it chained like this, but it looked fully obedient to Mai's command.

"Now, Phantasmal Dragon! Attack Chara directly with your special ability!"

Chara decided to act. "I activate Mirror Force! Your dragon isn't going to do anything, except maybe go to the Graveyard!"

"And you call _me_ heartless?"

"You don't even care, do you?"

"Still no. And, since you've so kindly ruined my dragon, I should return the favor by splashing my Paralyzing Potion on that rebellious harpie, cutting her attack power from 1900 to 1400. Your move."

Chara watched as the harpie began to weaken from the potion's effect. Luckily, there was one card in her deck that could win her this match with the aid of that potion. If she could just draw it...

"If there were ever a time I needed to trust in my deck," Chara said, "it's now. I draw."

Silence. Not a word was spoken from either duelist for the next ten seconds. Then, Chara spoke.  
"I got my card."

"No way!"

"Yes, way! I attack you with Harpie Queen!"

"Even so," Mai laughed, "your monster only cuts my life points down to 2500. She can't do anything else."

"Oh, yes she can, once I play...BERSERKER SOUL! First, I discard my hand to the Graveyard!" Chara gathered up her hand and threw it into the side slot on her Duel Disk. "Now, I draw cards until I draw a Spell or Trap card. Meanwhile, I'll discard every Monster card, and then Harpie Queen can attack again, since she has less than 1500 attack points!"

"So... you're using my negative effect to your advantage?"

"Of course! Now, I'll draw my first card... Oh, and look at that! It's my Black Stone of Legend! I discard it so my harpie can attack again!"

The harpie leapt at Mai, going utterly berserk at her.

"Next draw. Oooh! Red-Eyes Retro Dragon!"

Another slash, and Mai had lost- but something told Chara that the harpie wasn't satisfied.

"Okay," Mai groaned, "you've won. Good job."

"The harpie's not done! She won't be until she's given you what you've given her."

"Wha-"

"You should always be careful with your monsters, Mai. Now, I draw again... Red-Eyes Black Dragon! Then again! Keeper of the shrine!" Two more swipes.

"Is that the best she's got?"

"Not even close." Chara then proceeded to draw Red-Eyes Archfiend of Lightning, Paladin of Dark Dragon, Red-Eyes Black Metal Dragon, and Red-Eyes Black Flare Dragon. She finally hit her Shield and Sword card- but the damage had already been done. Those swipes had been quite enough for Mai. Her once beautiful face was now completely covered in claw marks.

"How? How? Why did I lose?"

The Harpie Queen flew to Chara's side, looking down on Mai. "As soon as you learn that there's more to your monsters than war. My entire deck helped _your_ Harpie Queen defeat you, because you gave no crap about her. I think you shouldn't even call yourself a duelist if all Duel Monsters has ever done for you is give you fame and money!"

Mai began to cry. Then, she stormed off, angry to be defeated by a little kid, not even asking for her monster back. Chara bent over, and, seeing that Mai had dropped two Locator Cards, scooped them up, ready to give it her all in the finals.

She knew where Frisk would be, and who she would aid.

And now, she was ready.

I would like to take into consideration the fact that the Harpie Queen would, in fact, become a faithful ally to Chara in duels to come- maybe even as faithful as Chara's dragons themselves, if not more. She would never forget the day she earned freedom from the duelist who cared nothing for her- the day she finally got revenge on Mai- and always be ready to support her new master in any way possible.

* * *

 **I hate to cut things short, but I have to leave for camp tomorrow. See you in a week with likely a very short chapter on the finalists.**


	15. The Stadium in the Sky

**The only thing I have to say is that I just thought about Chara's duel before Mai! It could have been against a rage-filled Weevil who had just lost to Joey. It could be for two, right? That, or Dan would have just given her a Locator Card for her skill, and then... Oh, well. Chara now has Insect Princess, no biggie. Also, I decided to change her deck from being a pure Red-Eyes deck to include some shield monsters, some monsters who could actually use Berserker Soul, and the three monsters she won in her duels. That said...**

* * *

 **Chapter 15**

 **The Stadium in the Sky**

Chara was really glad to be picked up in Mettaton's private limo, especially after the harsh duels she'd endured over the course of the day. It felt really comfortable being driven to the arena, as she had a pretty good idea on what Frisk might be doing. She didn't like the thought of it, but seeing as she had just learned earlier that there was already a psycho taking people's souls in this tournament, nothing had been good today.

"So, how's your day been, darling?"Mettaton asked, sitting in the back of the limo, across from the demon child. "Mine's been wonderful! I may have lost yesterday, but that loss only made my fans even more passionate for my victories!"

"Not great," Chara said. She wanted to say more, but at that moment, the limo pulled up to a large colisseum. "This is my stop, I guess..." She got out, waved a quick goodbye to Mettaton, and walked into the building behind her.

"Your Locator Cards, please, or are you with someone?" A gatekeeper said. Chara held up her Locator Cards, and the man let her in. She could see a few silhouettes talking. Alphys was there, discussing how crazy it was that she was actually here, and how far she'd come under Yugi's tutelage, to the King of Games himself. A blonde kid, who Chara assumed was Joey Wheeler, was trying to talk to Asriel, but it looked like the young fluffball was in a bit of a bad mood for talking. And a few other people were there, too- Yugi's friends, she assumed- as well as her mother, who had brought dessert, and the skelebros, who had tried to make the meal. One girl was throwing up in a trash can- she probably ate Papyrus' spaghetti, and was obviously trying to un-eat it.

"Sup, guys?" Chara said, trying to smile through her troubles. They all turned, and smiled.

"The fifth finalist has arrived, guys, and it's not Kaiba!" one guy announced. The guy had a single spike of hair, and a black jacket. "Today's your lucky day, Joey!"

"Don't get your hopes up, Tristan," Joey said. "He'll be here soon." He gave a quick thumbs up. "And when he does, he's gonna get Joey'ed!"

Chara could see that Sans was about to ask what it meant to Joey someone, but just then, three more figures came out from behind her. One was a short and hooded girl, and Chara was in the dark on who they were. One was big and bald, with a single ponytail. Still unknown. And the third and most ominous was a tall man in a purple, sleeveless hoddie, with grayish-blonde hair and sharp blue eyes. These three just reeked of the "sinister" vibe.

The tall man and the hooded girl flashed six Locator Cards at the gatekeeper, and each walked past. The bald man gave a nod of question to the tall man, who turned to the watchman. "I would like you to admit my aide to watch me in the finals, please." The gatekeeper opened the door, and the bald man walked inside. Now that Chara saw him up close, his face was tattooed on one side. He joined his companions, whom Chara noted as finalists.

The three mysterious figures began to converse, and Chara could only help but wonder what they were saying. She was about to ask when someone placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Is everything okay?"

Oh, thank goodness. It was just Tristan.

"I'm fine, thanks. It's just... Those people give off a really bad vibe, y'know?"

"Yeah, I noticed," came Tristan's reply. "I think that one of those guys is that Marik person who mind-controlled my pal, Joey, into dueling his best friend Yugi to the death."

"You know them?" Chara asked.

"Yeah, and they're both pretty good. I think Joey would do even better if he still had his Red-Eyes. It was taken by some guy who was wearing robes like that girl's wearing now, and then Yugi won it from that guy. Joey said that he should keep it, considering that those guys were still around."

The robed girl turned in their direction, and lifted her hood for a split second, lowering it almost instantly. Chara couldn't believe it.

 _Frisk?_

"Are... are you okay?"

"I'm fine. I just think that maybe she isn't."

"She?" Tristan asked. "Oh, you mean the girl in the robes? Did you two meet before?"

"I knew her pretty well," Chara said. "Or, at least, I **thought** I knew her..."

Before Tristan could respond, the tall blonde was walking toward them. "I apologize for any... inconvenience my friends here may have caused," he said. "Then again," he added, "perhaps it's best that you not know what we were talking about..." He turned away, and Chara just barely noticed a gold rod hanging from his belt. On the end of the rod was a bladed sphere with an eye carved into it. An eye that Yugi had told her far too much about.

"You're Marik Ishtar."

"And You're Chara Dreemur. What a surprise, we've introduced each other." Marik looked back at his two henchpeople. "Your friend is in my league now- that is, if she can even be called your friend. I seem to have noticed you betrayed her, in a seperate time, roughly seven years ago... And the other one is my personal aide, Odion. He makes sure nobody gets through my lines."

Asriel got up, quite from a distance, but having seen everything. "I can't believe you, Marik!" His rage was clear. "If what I've heard about you and your Rare Hunters is true, my friend's soul is in the Shadow Realm because of you!"

"Don't blame me, Asriel," Marik commented. "Your friend was once my humble servant, and the only reason she's gone is because your other friend had had enough messing around."

"That's a lie!" Asriel exclaimed. "There's no way Undyne or Frisk would ever join you, dude!"

"Speak for yourself. Look at the robes your friend is wearing now. As for Undyne, I brought her robes for just in case. They still reek of fish sweat."

Asriel was speechless. Chara thought that this was something she should have broken gently to Asriel, rather than Marik saying it all at once. He eventually threw his hands down in frustration, turning back to his seat... but by then, the eighth finalist was walking through the gates.

"Aw, man, Joey," Tristan said. "Looks like Kaiba decided to show after all."

And Seto Kaiba had decided to show up. He was wearing a white jacket and black jeans, and he wore a card on a strap around his neck. He called the seven other finalists to stand in line. Yugi, Joey, Chara, Marik, Asriel, Frisk, and Alphys all lined up, while an old man pulled some sort of Official KaibaCorp Boulder over for Seto to stand on.

"I'm only going to say this once," Kaiba began. "I began this tournament to find the greatest duelists in the world, and it looks like they're all here." Kaiba then shook his head. "Oh, nevermind. I thought you would all be tough, but it looks like Wheeler decided to come."

"Watch it, pal!"

"Forget it," Kaiba said. "Finding the best duelists was my first task. Deciding on the rules was my second. And so, I've decided that every duel in the finals will be played with 8000 life points. Also, Normal Summoning in Defense Position will not be allowed. These rules are here to ensure that the finals aren't over too quickly, and that the loser has more time to humiliate him- or her- self. Yes, Wheeler. I'm talking to you."

Joey would have gone overboard if not for the fact that Kaiba was running this stupid thing. "And as for the arena," Kaiba concluded, "this isn't a real stadium. In fact, it's a landing pad for my blimp, and that's where the quarterfinals are going to be. The blimp will then set a course for Kaiba Island, where the remaining duels will take place. Finally. several cards are going to become different, so the Card of Sanctity is not going to happen in these finals. Any questions?"

Kaiba then facepalmed. "Yes, Joey, your Grave Robber has a cost now. Deal with it. Anything else?" Another facepalm. "No, Joey, you can't use Flame Swordsman in your Main Deck. Any other questions?" Joey began to raise his hand, but Seto shot it down. "Besides Wheeler, preferrably."

Yugi raised his hand. "I can tell that this is about more than being the best, Kaiba. You just want to get your hands on the Egyptian God Cards."

"Wow, smarter than your size says, Yugi." Yugi obviously took slight offense to that, but was able to shake it off. "Well then, if that's all, you may each bring one fan to cheer you on. Any options?"

Yugi turned to the girl who had thrown up. "Well, Tea?"

Tea smiled. "Why not? I needed to have somebody to cheer for, anyway."

While the blimp began to descend, opening a walkway on board, Asriel turned to Toriel for support, Alphys to Papyrus for encouragement, and Frisk to Sans- though that last one was a mystery. Chara thought she had experienced a timeline where Frisk hated Sans with a passion. Joey found another girl, his sister Serenity, to cheer him on, and Marik picked Odion. Kaiba found his younger brother, Mokuba. "You're with me," he said. This left Chara as the only duelist in the finals without a supporter.

"Hey, you'll do great up there," Tristan told her. "I saw how you handled Marik, and if he's got a commander who was once your friend, maybe you can bring her back. I wis I could see something like that..."

Chara thought for a second. "Your wish is granted, Tristan! You're coming with me for the finals."

"Really? I kind of suck as a duelist, so if you ever want to train..."

"Who said anything about you training me? If you suck so bad, I'll flip that wagon over."

Tristan nodded thanks, then turned around. The last guy in the stadium, whom Chara recognized as the owner of her local Game Shop, Duke Devlin, looked at Tristan. Tristan tried to say something, but Duke shrugged. "She's all yours, Tristan. I'm the one who humiliated her brother, remember?"

"Thanks, Duke. I appreciate the effort."

"Are we going or not?" Kaiba asked. "Everybody's on the blimp except for you two!"

Tristan and Chara turned to each other and nodded. Then, as they walked up, Chara called, "Look who's talking."

Seto hadn't realized that he was still on the ground as the blimp took off. He leapt for the gangplank, and just barely grabbed it before it began to raise. The Battle City Finals were about to begin.

* * *

 **YES, I want Tristan to be more of a main character, and NO, I don't hate Duke, I just feel like the plot could have gone on just as well without him, at least until the Virtual World. Besides, Chara's gonna train Tristan now, so there's that to look forward to in between duels...**

 **On the other hand, Asriel's getting really depressed. That's so out of character in this AU, because he's usually so energetic, right?**

 **Review if you have any ideas for the matchups in round one, guys. I can't decide whom V. whom.**


	16. The Calm Before the Storm!

**I'd like to say that this chapter is a fun story about friendship, but it isn't. Instead, Alphys manages to come clean, and Asriel actually gets mad. Whaddya know.**

* * *

 **Chapter 16**

 **The Calm Before the Storm**

The wind was howling on the deck of the KaibaCorp blimp where the quarterfinals were being held. Alphys and Yugi had decided to check out the arena, and had found that Kaiba had expected them to duel outdoors. On a blimp. In the sky. Alphys had been quaking with fear, but Yugi reminded her that she'd come this far, and she shouldn't stop now.

The two looked over the deck, watching the small town from above. Look, there was Duke's game shop. And a few blocks away, Yugi pointed out the one owned by his grandfather. Seeing the town from this far away, the two began to think about just how big the world truly was in proportion to them.

Yugi turned to Alphys, smiling. "Well, what do you think? You know, about being a finalist?"

"I'm dreading it."

"Huh?"

"Listen," Alphys said. "You know how your Millennium Puzzle lets you see an ancient spirit? How he s-sometimes merges with your body to duel?"

"Yeah..." Yugi couldn't see where this was going. "What of it?"

"It's just... A few hours before I started my Battle City campaign, I had a run-in with Bakura." Alphys was beginning to bite her lip, as if not to say anything, Then, she let it go. "I, uh, asked if I could look at his Ring. He said he would let me see it if I beat him in a Shadow Game."

"What happened?" Yugi asked, even though he already knew the answer.

"I w-won. And then the spirit of the Millennium Ring left Bakura to be absorbed by the shadows... and passed itself on to me."

Yugi was beginning to wonder why Alphys would even want to see the Ring up close. Sure, she was a scientist, but he had told her of just how evil the spirit inside of the Millennium Item actually was, and she had fallen in fear. Then again, maybe she thought she knew what she was doing. Perhaps she had thought that just one look at the Ring wouldn't hurt.

Yugi smiled. "Don't worry, Alph. We'll find a way to take care of it."

"I hope so," Alphys said, still worried. "That guy, uh... he isn't very n-nice, is he?"

* * *

Marik had been hanging in the cafeteria with his Rare Hunters. The three had been discussing Marik's matters when Asriel walked in.

"Marik. Odion. Please leave. I want to talk to Frisk in private."

Frisk was rather surprised. Asriel was usually pretty optimistic, but the attitude his words came with weren't quite happy. She had never heard him this upset- well, perhaps, when he was Flowey, but not as her cute little goatbro.

Marik must have understood her confusion, and he turned to Asriel. "Very well. We shall leave." Odion nodded, and the two men left.

"So. You're the one who took Undyne's SOUL."

"I can take more, if you'd like. As you know, I've done it all at least ten times before."

Asriel shook his head. "You were a good person. What happened? Or is this what you've been pretending not to be this whole time?"

Frisk grinned. "Hit the nail on the head. I just can't believe it took you so long to figure it out."

"You gave me a portion of your freaking SOUL! I thought that showed me how good you were!"

"You don't understand," Frisk said. "I only did it to break free of the cycle that trapped me in the same two days forever."

Asriel began to cry. "There was something else, wasn't there? There was good! I know that you can do better!"

"Even if I don't think so? Yeah, Papyrus gave me the same old speech so many times. If you weren't a finalist who everyone in the whole world is hoping to watch, I'd kill you on the spot."

Asriel's tears stopped. "Frisk... I really am an _idiot_ , aren't I? I thought you were a good person, right? I thought you saved us all because you felt sorry for us! Because you loved us, like we cared for you! I guess I've been stupider than Dad when he's trying to bake! I've been worse at understanding your true motives than Papyrus at cooking! I've had it, Frisk! You've really thrown me off, kid, and that's not a good thing!"

Frisk laughed. "You know, you look really cute when you're angry."

"You're just laughing at me now! See, I thought you were better than this, Frisk. We all did. You're not just going to help Marik take over the world, are you? You're going to overthrow him, and kill us all. But that's NOT going to happen."

The human rolled her eyes. "Oh, so you're going to steal _Undyne's_ speech now. Just great. Like I haven't heard this one before."

Asriel raised his fist. "Just let me finish! Right now, the whole universe is depending on who wins this tournament and who loses it. I thought I still had a friend inside of you. I guess I never did, did I?"

The monster began to glow in a cloud of darkness. "I know this feeling... It's not joy, or hope. It's not kindness, or justice. It's hatred, rage, anger. It's a feeling that makes me want to do to you what you're going to do to anyone who wants to cross you. The tournament's winner will be the most powerful duelist on earth, and the only one who can stop YOU. I thought I wanted to win to save the world. It looks like beating you is more important than even that."

By this point, the dark energy surrounding Asriel began to cloud the room. Frisk could just barely see her brother through the evil that had consumed both of them. Asriel's words of rage began to get louder. "You never cared about me. Never cared about anyone. All you ever wanted to do was to satisfy your own bloodlust. I can't tell whether I should embrace the new you or destroy her. All I know anymore is hatred for you."

"Let Mom see this," Frisk said, "and she'll probably give you a time-out."

"And that's the worst she'd do to even you!" Asriel yelled. "I never knew that you were so heartless. Of course, if this is you, then Marik is absolutely tame! I've been so stupid, haven't I?"

Frisk began to wonder if Asriel was speaking the truth. She had gone a bit too far with Undyne, sure, but had she _really_ become the monster she was all those years ago? The pounding thoughts of her determination to finish this tournament shook that away. She looked at Azzy again, and he was no longer the gentle boy she once knew. She had only seen this form three times before, and all three times, it was when he was loaded with pure evil. The Boss Monster had truly become the Absolute GOD of HyperDeath once more- and he was, for once, quite frightening. That was probably because all of his rage was focused on one thing: her.

Asriel chuckled. "I guess you had no idea just who I could be, huh? See you on the battlefield, Frisk."

* * *

Frisk, reluctantly, had to tell Chara about the situation, and Chara, reluctantly, had to listen to one of the two most trusted Rare Hunters in order to get the full scoop. Chara had never seen Frisk so worried, though, even though Frisk was a psycopathic maniac with the intent of destroying all life on earth.

"Wait, Asriel did _that?_ No way! You must have made him really mad."

"The guy had no idea who I truly am. Even you forgot that. I was born to destroy, and he finally got that into his system."

"No, you weren't!" Chara said. "You were born to save all of the monsters, and free mine and Asriel's souls, and to help us all live Happily Ever After and crap like that! Come on, listen to yourself! Would you have said those same words seven years ago?"

Frisk growled. "You too? I'm starting to see a pattern of disbelief here. At least Asriel took it all in. You just have no idea when to quit, Chara, and in that sense, you're even dumber than Asriel was." She left, leaving Chara to wonder whether or not she should tell the other finalists.

* * *

Kaiba was watching the antics of the other seven finalists, and so far, he wasn't amused, except for the part where Frisk got mad and stormed out on Chara. He probably would have done the same. So far the only duelist who was doing something perfectly reasonable right now was Wheeler, who was preparing his deck for the finals.

"Seto!" Mokuba ran into the room, obviously panicked. "It's Asriel! He's going crazy!"

"I can see that, Mokuba. Don't you have some work to do or something?"

"Seto, he's in a really bad mood."

"Does it look like I care?"

Mokuba smacked himself in the face. Leave it to Seto to not care about his finalists. "You should at least care about the finalists, but it doesn't look like you care a bit."

"Mokuba." Seto's face told Mokuba to shut up. "There are only two people in the world that I care about, and you're lucky to be one of them. If you want the finalists to be cozy, luxuriate them yourselves."

Mokuba agreed, not wanting to bring up the fact that the only other person Seto cared about was himself.

* * *

Chara walked into the main quarters. It was a few minutes before the tournament started, and all eight finalists had gathered. She turned to Asriel and pulled up the old text screen. It read:

 **Asriel is filled with HATE.**

Well. Frisk wasn't lying. Asriel really had snapped. And at the end of the rope of his rage was Frisk. She couldn't blame him, but just seeing Azzy in this state gave her nightmares. He was almost never seen with a frown on his face. That was the most haunting aspect of him right now.

Yugi, Joey, and Kaiba all seemed ready to win, but Yugi looked like he wanted to win not for glory, but for justice. Makes sense. After all, he was the one who was trying to defeat Marik in the first place.

Odion and Marik were standing on the sidelines. Marik looked like he was ready to duel. Odion simply stood there, waiting for Marik to be chosen for a duel.

Alphys looked totally panicked for no reason in particular, and then there was Frisk. The whole time, neither demon nor human had expected to make it to the finals, but it had happened. Battle City had been stressful for both, and Chara had one goal: to save her siblings in this tournament. If it weren't for this tournament, neither Frisk nor Asriel would be in this situation. Chara may as well blame Kaiba for all of this, but it wasn't his fault. Perhaps, if Frisk hadn't realized it now, she would still remember her past later, at a point where Chara wouldn't be able to help her. It was all too perfect.

The announcer, finally ready to call out the first duel, got onto the stage. It was time for the finals to truly begin.

* * *

 **Whoa! I almost started the finals in this chapter! Oh, how terrible would that have been... Next up? Probably Yugi VS. Alphys, to mirror the actual battle of Millennium Items in round 1 of the finals.**


	17. Student and Teacher, Part 1

**Yes! I'm finally getting started on the Battle City Finals! And this is the biggest duel I've done so far (but not the biggest chapter, that honor goes to chapter fourteen), so, once again, it's in two parts. I hope you enjoy!**

* * *

 **Chapter Seventeen**

 **Student and Teacher- Part 1**

"Attention, Duelists! The Battle City Finals are about to begin! All finalists, prepare for battle!"

The eight Battle City Finalists were all ready. The Kaiba brothers, of course, had gone out of their way to create the ultimate tournament, so if there was ever a place where the Egyptian God Cards might end up, this was it. Chara knew for a fact that one of them resided with Yugi. Alphys had told her that another one had likely been planted with Marik. And the final one was held by Seto Kaiba himself. The three gods were about to clash, and Chara knew it perfectly well. The finals would be a test not of power, of using the Egyptian God Cards themselves, but of defeating them.

The announcer turned to a machine behind him, fully prepared to show it off. "This machine," he said, "was created by my boss, Seto Kaiba, to fairly choose the duelists in each match. The winner of each duel will move on one round, and the loser, of course, forfeits their rarest card to the winner. Now, let's see who's in round 1..."

The man turned on the machine, and two numbered golf balls popped out. The announcer turned. "Will the duelists in rooms 7 and 3 please stand?" At this, Yugi and Alphys each stood up. "Very well. Round 1, Yugi Muto Vs. Alphys... uh, what's your last name? You didn't put it on your signature."

"I, uh actually can't remember. It's just been s-so long since someone asked me that, y'know?"

"Erm... Anyways. The first duel will begin momentarily! Duelists, follow me to the Stratos Stadium!"

Frisk turned to Chara. "Not to try to appeal, but I actually have a hero named Stratos. Who knew?"

Chara rolled her eyes. "It's probably just a coincidence. You're still going down, though."

"Heh. You still haven't changed. You don't realize that all of your puny friends can't help you out of this one."

"There's another thing that bothers me," Chara said. "Why on earth did you bring Sans as your guest?"

"To ensure he would be here," Frisk explained, "so that I could get revenge. Oh, sweet it is. It's pretty chilly up there, but, as you know, revenge is a dish best served cold..."

Chara wanted to say something. She wanted to say that revenge wasn't the answer. She wanted to bring up all of the good times they had, all of the happy memories. She wanted to remind Frisk of Papyrus' puzzles, Sans' jokes, Toriel's cooking, even Mettaton's dancing. That last one was just plain fun! But she didn't have time to say any of this, because, by then, they were at the arena.

And boy, should she have brought a jacket!

The duelists took their places, one across from the other. Yugi and Alphys each readied their duel disks, student and teacher alike ready to duel.

Yugi took one last look down at the Millennium Puzzle chained around his neck. The spirit inside began to speak again.

"Yugi, are you sure you want to do this by yourself?"

"Relax, Yami. It worked with Joey, didn't it?"

Yami's concern grew. "Yes, but you'd known Joey longer. Besides, you _have_ taught her all of your best moves..."

"I'll be fine," Yugi said. With that, he stepped forward and began to draw his hand.

 _This is it,_ thought Yugi. _The duel between teacher and student. The clash between the legendary duelist and his protege. The finals, here and now, will truly test the ties of her training._ _I'm not 100% sure I know who I want to win this duel, but I know I must, to save the world!_

The announcer turned to Yugi. "Yugi, is your deck ready for the finals?" Yugi nodded. "Alphys?" The lizard-girl across from him nodded as well. They were both ready. "Yugi, you shall go first. Three! Two! One! DUEL!"

Yugi drew out his hand. He hadn't wanted this duel to just be fun. He wanted it to be epic, and to make sure that Alphys was dueling her hardest, without the Spirit of the Millennium Ring taking over. To make the duel even better, he'd brought back several of his older cards, prepared to use each one to attain true victory- true victory meaning winning while also keeping the real Alphys.

"I'll start this duel," Yugi said, with the Feral Imp!" The large, furry imp appeared, looking a bit nasty, but also kind of fun. "Then I'll play this card face down, and end my turn."

Alphys nodded. "Good move! I, uh, draw... Oh, look at that! I summon Koumori Dragon!" A dark dragon, shadowed in both appearance and abilities, soared onstage. "Now, uh, attack his imp!" The Koumori Dragon blasted the imp to nothing. "Now, two facedown, and that does it for me!"

Yugi drew. "I'll start with Monster Reborn! I'll play this card on Feral Imp, regenerating him to the field. Don't think he's sticking around, though, because I'll sacrifice him! Come forth, Archfiend of Gilfer!" As one fiend was replaced by another, Yugi was really sure that things were going pretty well... and then Alphys had to stop his attack.

"Sorry, Yugi! I'll, uh, play the trap card I Set, Sp-Spellbinding Circle! This card, uh...freezes your archfiend!"

Yugi smiled. "Well played! I've been teaching you well!"

Alphys giggled. "I learned from the best, Yugi!"

Everybody began cheering. These were some good plays, and the duel had barely begun! Yugi shook his head. "Since my archfiend can't attack your dragon, I'll end my turn with another face-down card. Your move!"

Alphys drew. It looked like she was becoming more confident. "I'll play this! I summon Magician's Valkyria! I'm not stopping there, though. I'm also playing this card: Magical Dimension! Since I control a spellcaster, this trap sacrifices one of my monsters, like my Koumori Dragon, to summon a new magician from my hand! Come on out... Dark Magician Girl!"

I would like to add that, in all of the duels that Alphys and Yugi had ever had, the former had always brought out the Dark Magician Girl early in the match, who had a tendency to be struck down by the Dark Magician in Yugi's deck. Alphys hadn't understood it, but this was showing that the student had yet to surpass the master.

Alphys smiled. "And that...That's not all! Now, uh, Magical dimension... It takes out your Archfiend of Gilfer!"

Yugi was glad that Alphys had managed to save herself so soon. "I said it once, and I'll say it again: well played! Of course, since the Archfiend of Gilfer was destroyed, one of your monsters loses 500 attack points. I'll pick your Dark Magician Girl!

Alphys smiled. "I activate my other trap, Interdimensional Matter Transporter! My m-magician's gonna do a dissapearing act for the rest of the turn, so your Archfiend's effect isn't going to hurt her one bit!"

Yugi was becoming quite pleased with his apprentice. "Wow, you're out-dueling me! Points to you for that!"

Alphys shrugged. "Well, at least we're having fun... wait," she said, looking around. "Are those cameras?"

This could be a problem for Alphys. While she had been getting a good lead, she was extremely camera shy, and the very presence of video-recording could reduce her skill.

"I, uh, attack you directly with my Valkyria, and end my turn, so my Dark Magician Girl, uh, is back!"

 **YUGI: 6200**

 **ALPHYS: 8000**

Yugi smiled. Wow. A little bit of teaching went a long way. The big issue? Now Alphys was really freaked out. But up till this point, she'd been doing exceptionally well. Even Kaiba was impressed! That's saying something.

Yugi drew his card. Then, he felt like a huge burden had just been lifted. This card could save him.

"I'm activating a Spell Card! My Dark Magic Veil lets me pay 1000 of my own life points to summon a DARK Spellcaster from my hand... This monster is a very loyal fighter, but also mysterious. It's a monster that I should be fond of, even though it's a divverent version. It's a darker version of my best monster, and you know perfectly well who that is!"

Alphys smiled. "Should've known. You're bringing in the monster that always saves your life when the chips are down," she said, pointing it out. "It may not be a version you're used to, but it's still the monster you always pull out."

Yugi nodded. "If you hadn't been training for this, you'd be surprised to see this monster. Hey, he might STILL surprise you, considering that he's a different wizard than the one I'm used to. I won this card from one of Marik's Rare Hunters, Arkana. He said this card was a tool to eliminate the weak, and he possessed three of it in one deck. He threatened to take my copy if I'd lost, as well as send me to the Shadow Realm. He may have lost, but the power of his monster is still nothing to laugh upon. So be prepared as I summon the monster who's gonna keep me around... the Dark Magician!"

Now, almost everyone here had seen Yugi's Dark Magician before. It was his signature card, and served as a staple of Yugi's deck, if not of Yugi himself. Everyone loved a good summon of this card. This particuler Dark Magician was a different one, though, wearing red robes, and looking sinister.

Obviously, Chara had never seen a Dark Magician in action, as she looked astonished by the powerful monster as if this was her first time seeing one. She turned to her friends. "So that's Yugi's favorite card? He looks awesome!"

Tristan looked at Chara, slightly confused that this was the first Dark Magician she had seen. "This is nothing," he told her. "Just wait and see what happens when he pulls out the one in purple!"

Yugi smiled, the Dark Magician readying his rod. "Dark Magician, strike down his Dark Magician Girl! Dark Magic Attack!" The Dark Magician cast a ray of darkness at Alphys' Magician girl, and it almost hit- but then, the Magician's Valkyria took the blow.

"My Valkyria's effect, Yugi!" Alphys said triumphantly. "She takes the hit instead of my Dark Magician Girl!"

"I've underestimated you, Alphys. I totally forgot about that monster!"

"Yeah, uh, neat."

Yugi smiled. "My turn's done."

Alphys turned to Kaiba. "So, how was that?"

Seto scoffed. "That may be an amateur move, but you _are_ holding up against Yugi, so..."

"Well, watch this! It's, uh, my turn, so I d-draw!"

"And quit being camera-shy!"

"Do you think I can h-help it? I'm trying to think! Ah, I'll play this monster face-down and set this card," Alphys said, emptying her hand, "and I'll switch my Dark Magician Girl to defense mode. Your move, Yugi!"

"That's it?!" Kaiba had gotten pretty mad. "All you do is play defense? You have better moves than THAT if Yugi's been teaching you! And here I thought you stood a chance..."

"You'll see."

Yugi grabbed his next card. "I'll summon my Celtic Guardian! Now, Dark Magician, attack her Dark Magician Girl!"

"I'm saving her again," Alphys interrupted, "with my Shift trap! This card switches Dark Magician's attack to my other monster... my face down Morphing Jar! I don't have any cards in my hand, and neither do you, but now we can each draw five new cards!"

Yugi drew his new cards. They might help him out considerably. "I'll end my turn, Alphys. Show me what you've got!"

As she drew her next card, Alphys was feeling pretty god about herself. She was overcoming her stage-fright conditions, managing to out-duel Yugi, and even impressing Seto Kaiba! Oh, if Undyne could see her now, this was too good...

And then, of course, _he_ had to butt in.

 _This is taking far too long, Alphys. You need to step aside._

Alphys felt the disturbance, and turned to the spirit of the Millennium Ring. _H-Hey! You can't boss me around! I've been getting more confident, you know!"_

The spirit of the Ring shook his head.

 _Your friend Chara once spoke some words of wisdom, so I'm going to repeat them. Listen closely._

 _Since when were YOU the one in control?_

Yugi looked at Alphys, who surprised him by letting out an enraged roar.

"You think you're soooo strong, Yugi, well, I'll show you! First I play Pot of Greed, drawing two cards from my deck. Then I set one card, and play Exchange! We now each take one card from our opponent's hand, and add it to our own!" The two duelists walked up to each other, holding out their hands. Yugi realized exactly what card Alphys would take, and it was a card he hadn't wanted to put in his deck, but a reccomendation from Kaiba. A card he had won the day prior to the finals, and a card so powerful, that even he had failed to destroy it.

Slifer, the Sky Dragon.

The best card he could take was Gamma the Magnet Warrior, but he couldn't help but shudder as Alphys' hand darted for the Egyptian God Card. He noticed that the look in her eyes had become quite witty, and clever, and, most surprisingly, not the least bit scared.

"You may have taken my Egyptian God Card, Alphys," Yugi said. "But I've just pulled the plug on your secret! You're not really Alphys right now, are you? No, Alphys may have begun this duel, but she's been replaced by something she accidentally won off of Bakura, hasn't she?"

Tristan crossed his arms. "Yugi's gotta be kidding! If he's talking the Millennium Ring, I threw that ring deep into the woods at Duelist Kingdom, never to be seen again!"

'Never' was a bit of a strong word, though, for the item itself soon began to show around Alphys' neck. Her grin grew wider, and more sinister.

"So you've cracked my case. My question is, can you take the power you've given me? I'll discard my Kuriboh to call on the Tricky, a wizard of wind who shows himself when I discard one card. Then, I play Premature Burial, paying 800 life points to bring him back! There's just two cards in my hand now, and I'm summoning one! I sacrifice Kuriboh, Dark Magician Girl, and the Tricky!"

Frisk turned to Chara. "Looks like Alphys has a twist. It's not going to be easy for Yugi to win if she does what I think she's gonna do!"

Alphys smiled. "I'm afraid this duel is getting too close to it's end! I summon the card that will bring this duel to a close: Slifer, the Sky Dragon!"

As the great red dragon appeared, the spirit of the Ring chuckled to himself. _This is just too good,_ he thought to himself. _Though Slifer's attack power is just 1000 right now, I have a second Morphing Jar in my hand to fix those numbers. Then, if he tries to attack Slifer with either his guardian or his magician, I'll use Mirror Force to destroy those monsters! And of course, if he summons anything else, that card will just get blasted by Slifer's second mouth attack! Yugi Muto, you have nothing left to defend yourself!_

 _Who's the powerful one NOW?_

* * *

 **Note: I was originally planning to use _Yugi's_ Dark Magician in this part, but I've decided that the final clincher would be using that specific Dark Magician in the finals, and I kind of wanted Yugi to attack into Mirror Force. So I threw in Arkana's, partially because it's my favorite artwork of the card besides the original.**

 **Also, Alphys getting Slifer from Yugi mirrors Bakura getting Ra from Marik a few duels from now, so that's neat.**


	18. Student and Teacher, Part 2

**Two weeks without an update? Wow. School starting up again really slows you down. Anyays, here's the second half of Student and Teacher, which is, so far, my favorite duel in this series, period.**

* * *

 **Chapter Eighteen**

 **Student and Teacher- Part 2**

"No way!" Chara couldn't believe her eyes. "Alphys summoned Yugi's Egyptian God Card? That's insane!"

"INSANE, YES," Papyrus said, "BUT EVIDENTLY, NOT IMPOSSIBLE. SURELY, THERE MUST BE A WAY THAT YUGI CAN OVERCOME THIS SITUATION!"

"forget it, paps," Sans said, rolling his eyesockets. "i don't think there's gonna be any way outta this one."

"Don't be so sure," Joey said, confident. "If I know Yug', he's gonna get out of this one, no sweat."

"Oh, shut up, Wheeler." Kaiba crossed his arms. "This duelist has been out-playing Yugi for the entire match. If she was holding back before, then there's no way he'll win. And if he does win," Kaiba said, smirking, "I may as well give you a Blue-eyes White Dragon. Yeah, it's that unlikely."

"And if he doesn't, I'd give you my Jinzo. Come on, Kaiba. This is Yugi we're talkin'."

* * *

Yugi drew his card. He had no idea where to play to after this. He had six cards, but playing any one of them could be a mistake: a low-level monster would get annihlated by Slifer, and a high-level monster would lose it's stats. Yugi _did_ have his Dark Magician and his Celtic Guardian to attack, but that face-down could, very well, screw everything up. He knew what sort of deck his opponent used, and he only had one card he could safely play.

"Slifer can't attack my monsters for now, and I'll make that period of failure to attack even longer with this: Swords of Revealing Light! This card will keep your Sky Dragon off of my magician and guardian for three turns!"

Alphys adjusted her glasses to make sure he'd done what he wanted to. Sure enough, the piercing swords surrounded the Egyptian God, freezing its long, spiraling body.

"I see. Interesting play, little Yugi. Playing defense can only get you so far, though."

"We'll see about that. I'll set this card face down on the field, and that'll do it for me."

As Alphys drew, Yugi felt a little nudge in his mind.

"Yugi," Yami's voice echoed, "you should let me take over. This is getting risky."

Yugi turned to his spirit guardian, feeling a bit annoyed. "Yami, I want to prove that I can win this duel on my own power. You dueled in my place so much. Now, I should duel in yours."

Yami shrugged. "Alright, Yugi. Just... feel free to tag off if things get too rough."

As Yami faded, Yugi realized that he hadn't planned on tagging off. Not by a long shot. Alphys turned in his direction. "Yugi, this is where it all ends. I'll summon one monster face-down, in Defense mode, and then activate the Quick-Play spell, Book of Taiyou. This card will flip up my set Morphing Jar, and thereby allow me to draw five new cards! Too bad for you, though, because you'll have to discard your entire hand to do the same. Then, I play the spell card, De-Spell, and remove your swords from my dragon!"

Meanwhile, Yugi heard Kaiba talking to Joey on the sidelines: "Better get Jinzo ready, Wheeler. I knew Yugi wouldn't stand a chance."

Tristan looked at Kaiba, and then gave him a massive shove. "Nobody, and I mean NOBODY, insults Yugi like that.

"Nobody except me, Taylor. You're even more pathetic at defending your friends than your Life Points."

Yugi turned back to the field, and then, to his hand. Alphys smirked.

"Slifer! Use your cosmic energy to wipe out his Celtic Guardian!" At this, the giant red serpent blasted and decimated the elven swordsman. Yugi, meanwhile, took 2600 points of damage. "I end my turn," Alphys said.

 **YUGI: 2600**

 **ALPHYS: 7200**

Yugi was on his knees. He felt ready to tag off to Yami, but he knew just too well that, no matter what, this duel would end on Alphys' next turn. It was absolutely hopeless...

"Don't give up, Yugi!"

"You can do it!"

"Don't lose hope!"

Huh? Was that... encouragement?

As we all probably realized, the shouts came from the general directions of both Tea and Joey, but virtually anyone could have given one of the shouts. He realized that, even in this bad position, the duel wasn't over. The duel wasn't over, he realized, until the last card was played.

Yugi was, obviously, struggling. But he began to smile, as if he had found a flaw in Slifer, when he drew his next card. "I activate my Polymerization card! I'll fuse together these two monsters in my hand: Red-eyes Black Dragon and Summoned Skull! Behold, the monster that's gonna bring down Slifer, the mighty Black Skull Dragon!"

Joey began to cheer. "Way to go, Yugi! That's my card, guys! Red-eyes is back in buisness, baby!"

Alphys laughed. "That pathetic skeletal dragon has 800 less attack points than my Sky Dragon! You're through."

Yugi shrugged. "If you're that confident. I'll set this card and end my turn."

Alphys drew. "I sacrifice my Morphing Jar in order to summon my Silent Swordsman, LV5! This monster will be one that you just won't defeat too easily!"

Yugi smiled. "Hold it! Since you just summoned a monster, I activate my trap card, Dark Renewal! Now, I can take out your swordsman and transform my magician into a different wizard of darkness from my Deck or Graveyard. I'm summoning my original copy of Dark Magician to the field in Defense mode!"

Alphys crossed her arms. "Are you serious? You don't even do anything to protect your dragon. You just make your wizard change his clothes."

"If you're so confident. why don't you attack my dragon?"

"I was just about to! Slifer, wipe out his Black Skull Dragon!"

Yugi smiled, knowing that his friends' cheers had put some srength into his next move. "I activate Lightforce Sword! This card will banish one card from your hand for four turns, and you know what that means... Slifer loses 1000 attack points!"

"Wha-"

"And now!" Yugi smiled, triumphant. "Black Skull Dragon will destroy Slifer!" Alphys was horrified. An Egyptian God Card, defeated by a mere dragon? Impossible! Inconceivable!

Tristan, Chara, and the whole lot of them began cheering. Kaiba was stunned. And the Rare Hunters were almost completely dumbfounded. With all they knew of the Egyptian God Cards, how could one have fallen?

Alphys felt like the whole thing had almost ended. She- no, the spirit of the Millennium Ring- had but one hope: the face-down card on their field.

"I...end my turn."

 **YUGI:2600**

 **ALPHYS:7000**

Yugi drew- and saw his chance. "I activate the spell card, Dark Magic Attack!" The Dark Magician generated a mighty burst of darkness with his staff. "This card lets my Dark Magician focus his power on your spell and trap cards and destroy them!" Yugi watched, with great satisfaction actually, Alphys' face-down Mirror Force card shatter. "Now, I summon Alpha the Magnet Warrior! With no monsters left to save you, this duel is over! Dark Magician, Alpha, and Black Skull Dragon! Attack Alphys' life points directly!"

The three monsters all attacked at the same time. The resulting explosion completely decimated Alphys' life points, ending the duel. The Millennium Ring went flying off, probably to find another helpless victim to possess.

Kaiba fell on his knees. "Yugi... He defeated an Egyptian God Card with a single trap?"

Joey walked over to Kaiba- who was already in a bad mood- and dropped the bomb. "So, about that Blue-eyes..."

* * *

The duelists all gathered in the main chamber, waiting for the next duel's announcement. Yugi was thanking the others for cheering for him- he couldn't have done it without them- while Asriel was just standing there in his bad mood, and Kaiba was ridiculously glad that he'd hunted down additional Blue-eyes White Dragons, having had to give one to Joey.

The announcer turned to the machine and turned it on. Two golf balls labelled 5 and 8 were dispensed. After this, Joey and Marik each stood up- and then locked eyes.

"So, we're next then,huh, Joey?" Marik announced.

Joey glared at his opponent. "And here's where I get revenge for you controllin' me into almost killing Yugi. Brace yourself, because I've got a crap-ton of good cards, all ready to give you a huge whoopin'."

"If that's all..." The announcer turned to the duelists. "...then we should go back upstairs. The duel shall soon begin."

* * *

Frisk walked up to Marik just before the duel was set to begin. "Scared?"

Marik turned to his subordinate. "Why should I be? I have an Egyptian God Card, remember?"

"And I have a way to ensure our victory. Marik-"

"That's _Master_ to you, young Dreemur."

"Is it really?" Frisk smiled evilly. "If you're the master, then how do you explain this?"

She opened a door, and inside was a totally unconscious Odion. Frisk then began to hold up a strange object. It looked like... a soul.

"You-"

"Marik. This is our biggest match yet. Succeed, and I might just return your stepbrother's soul. Fail, and I'm gonna gain a lot of LV. Take your pick."

As Frisk walked away, she didn't even realize that she had unleashed Marik's true darkness by taking the soul of the last person he cared about. I would like to say that this was a bad thing, but believe it or not, even the darkness that was Yami Marik could never come anywhere near close to the shadow that was the elegant, vicious, determined Frisk Dreemur.

* * *

 **DUN DUN DUNNNNNN FRiSK TOOK ODION'S SOUL!**

 **But in all honesty, what did you think? (Plus, I had to have a way to annoy Kaiba before his duel even began.)**


	19. The King's Great Gamble!

**Oh. Chapter 19. Guess I should do Joey Vs. Marik now, huh?**

 **Wait, wait, wait! I don't have any ideas for that duel yet- I still never watched their classic duel! What to do, then...**

 **Oh, wait! I have an amazing idea! HEY! This might actually work! Give me a sec...**

 **...**

 **Done! I decided that it's time for Asgore's return! This is gonna be great!**

* * *

 **Chapter Nineteen**

 **The King's Great Gamble**

On the blimp to KaibaCorp Tower, Chara and Yugi, both stoked for things to come, were talking about Yugi's duel against Alphys a few minutes ago. Chara hoped she would get a chance to duel Frisk, or even Asriel, to bring them back. And Yugi just knew that to save the world, they would have to go all out. But Chara was unsure of whether that was a safe bet. With Asriel, maybe, but Frisk was unpredictable at this point. Which way would things go? Should she FIGHT, or use MERCY? With Frisk's current condition, the former seemed safer, but it might not bring Frisk back to her old, happier state. But on the other hand, the latter was even more dangerous, considering how merciless her adoptive sister had become.

They both hoped that Frisk and Asriel would be alright, and, considering that Joey was about to duel Marik, they agreed on going to watch. Chara couldn't help but talk with Toriel on the way up.

"Mom."

"Yes, my child?" Toriel replied. Her words flowed with un-ending compassion, as if coming out of a peace fountain or something. Normally, this lovey stuff would be far out of Chara's way, but there was something she needed to know.

Chara's lips trembled at her own words. "Where...Where did Dad go off to?" Seeing Toriel's face contort in both disgust, and, yet, sorrow, at the sound of Asgore's name made Chara step back, so she re-worded her question. "I mean, what happened with you and him, and where did he go after that?"

Toriel knelt down. Her tearful eyes began to drip. "Shortly...after Asriel's failed trip through the barrier, Asgore made a decision. Having lost both of you in one night... He decided that all humans who fell into the Ebbot Caverns would pay, pay for what they had done to our children. He swore that all humans who fell... would die. He enlisted Undyne to slay any humans who fell, and asked all of the other monsters to keep ready to fight."

"I could not change his mind. He tried to persuade me that this was justice. Atonement for the death of our son and his best friend. I, however, could not forgive him for that decision." Toriel's tears were beginning to flow much more steadily than before she began the story. "I abandoned him, my child. I fled to the ruins, and locked myself inside. The only company I had were the residents of the ruins themselves, and a mysterious voice behind a locked door."

Chara began to tremble. "What...What happened next?"

Toriel shook her head. "Six children fell down, and each of them left. None of them ever saw the surface again. I could not let that happen to the seventh child. And so..." Toriel's very words seemed to be crying out for mercy. "When young Frisk tried to leave. I tried to stop her. She struck me quite hard, but then seemed to realize that, in order to escape, they would have to show me that I was wrong in my ways. Not for leaving Asgore- for that, I still felt justified- but for trying to hold her against her will. After she left, I realized that I couldn't have let her go alone. When I arrived at the Barrier, though, they were about to battle Asgore. And as much as I wished for his comeuppance..." At this, she began to calm down. "...I knew that even as miserable of a creature as he should have mercy."

Chara knew what had happened after that. But there was still one question that she had to know. "So, where is he now?"

Toriel shook her head. "I do not know, my child. The last thing I heard of him was that he had gone on a mysterious expedition, but I still do not know why. All I remember him bringing was his clothing, a deck that he had constructed for the passage of time, and his massive trident. Everything else... His crown. His robes. His armor. All of it... left behind. I do not know for sure, but I think that he was just trying to start over from the beginning."

* * *

Now, Asgore Dreemmur, as I'm sure you know, never even wanted to kill humans. He just felt that his subjects were more important than his own wishes. So it's no surprise that he'd leave, ashamed that he'd let his people rule his mind. His true reason for setting out on an adventure was to find himself.

His copter landed at Domino Square, which was totally empty apart from him and his pilot. He had half expected to see his son dueling, or his daughters eating at the cafe where his wife occasionally baked. But it appeared to be nearly empty. He shook his head, and then got out.

"Sir," the pilot asked, "shouldn't you have asked for them to meet you here?"

Asgore shook his head. "My wife, no. She wouldn't want to see me for all the pie she could make. Besides, my phone got crushed in that Egyptian Temple."

The pilot nodded. He remembered when the king had gone into a pyramid and come out with a shining golden sword on his belt and an arrow in his phone. "Well, guess Tori's going to have to contact me by mail!" he had said. Not like Tori would have contacted him anyway, as distant as they had become.

The King of All Monsters turned to the pilot. "Take the chopper to my private hangar. I need to find Toriel before my family completely loses trust in me."

Asgore charged eastward, and arrived at the cafe very quickly- but, of course, Toriel wasn't there. He wondered where, for the life of himself, his wife could be. He was on his way back to the hangar when suddenly, someone- actually, it was Shyren, to be blunt- came to him with startling news: that Undyne had been hospitalized, her SOUL stolen from her. How her body remained intact without a soul was still a mystery.

Asgore had finally made it to the hangar, still shocked from Undyne's condition, when he noticed a short, chubby man wearing a pair of glasses and a KaibaCorp uniform. He was holding a piece of paper, and Asgore could just barely see eight portraits on the page- four of which were people whom he had met, and three of those... were his children.

Asgore walked over to the man. "Excuse me, but where did you get that photo?"

The man shook his head. "Mister Kaiba gave me this piece of paper with the faces of all of the Battle City Finalists before the finals begun. They all boarded a large blimp, but to where is confidential.

Asgore grabbed the man's arm. "Those are my children. Where is that blimp headed?"

The man yanked his arm back. "I'm sorry, but I already said that info is co-"

"TELL ME!"

The man stumbled back. "Okay, let me make a deal. I duel you, and if you win, I'll tell you where the blimp is going."

"And if I lose?"

The moonlight reflected off of the man's glasses. "Then you leave Domino, and never return. And if you do return, I will make sure that Mister Kaiba keeps you out."

Asgore thought. This was a pretty steep gamble- choosing to find his family may very well result in his own banishment from Domino, but there was always the safe way out. Still, if he wanted Toriel to know he still supported his family, then he had to act.

* * *

Meanwhile, Joey and Marik were readying their Duel Disks when Kaiba interrupted the setup with an announcement.

"Listen up, duelists. I've been notified that my aide, Hobson, has challenged someone for banishment. The price? This blimp's destination." Kaiba cackled, then shrugged. "I may want this tournament to go on, but I just can't let a duel against a foolish noob go unwatched. Your attention to the big screen, if you will."

Everyone turned to the screen, and it flickered to life. The surprise on Toriel's, Chara's, Asriel's, and Alphys' faces was so evident, but Frisk was unmoved.

"So, the big guy actually decided to come for us? Guess he actually has a conscience after all. Shame he found it about seven hours too late, right?"

Toriel began to feel dizzy. Should she be grateful or disgusted that Asgore had returned? Meanwhile, Asriel reached out toward the screen.

"Dad... Is that you?"

The darkness surrounding the boy fell back, but then it almost seemed to lunge forward as Asriel jerked his hand back. "No..." Chara heard him mutter, "no, he doesn't care..." Then he seemed to be pressing forward at the same time, mumbling the words, "But... he returned..." to himself. Maybe Asgore winning this duel was just what Asriel needed to crawl out of his funk. Chara walked over to him and, comfortingly, patted him on the back.

"It's okay, Azzy. He's coming back for our sakes."

* * *

Hobson turned on his Duel Disk, and Asgore seemed really confused. "Is there something I'm missing here?" the royal boss monster asked. "What's that little trinket?"

Hobson cackled. "You'll soon see." He passed a Disk to Asgore, who had a somewhat strenuous time getting it onto his arm, and engaged the wireless link. "With these Duel Disks, a duel takes on a whole new level of reality! I'll start off with one face down non-monster card."

Asgore smiled. "You know, you don't have to put it like that.

Hobson continued his move. "I shall now summon my Mystery Shell Dragon in Attack Mode! This monster has 2000 attack points, and it's only level four!" The great black wyrm materialized on the field, and Asgore nearly fell back in shock.

"That monster... When you summoned it, it came to life?"

Hobson rolled his eyes. "It's only a hologram, but the electrical energy flowing through the Duel Disk is anything but! When you take damage in this duel, the disks will administer an electrical shock!"

On the blimp, Kaiba looked furious. "Hobson, what are you doing?" The other finalists heard him mutter. "I told you that Pain Mode was only for emergency access!"

Asgore looked flat-out astonished. His Duel Disk had begun beeping to indicate his turn, but he continued to stare at the Shell Dragon, which seemed so real that he could touch it. He eventually tore his eyes away to draw a card.

"I will start," Asgore said, "by summoning my La'Jinn, the Mystical Genie of the Lamp!" As he said this, a small magic lamp skidded onto the battlefield, then shattered to reveal a glowing green genie. "But I'm not done, because now I activate my Spell Card, Burden of the Mighty! This card cuts the attack and defense points of all of your monsters based on their level. And as you pointed out... your Mystery Shell Dragon is level four! That means that it loses four hundred attack points."

Hobson's already disturbing cheek bones widened. "You've activated the Quick-Play Spell I set, my Spell Shattering Arrow! Using this arrow, I will destroy your burden, and deal you five hundred points of direct damage!"

Asgore watched a holographic arrow pierce through his burden, and then it struck him, too. Hobson was right- the arrow wasn't painful. But the shock that the Duel Disk administered was.

Asgore recovered and pulled another card from his hand. "I activate Dark Energy! This card increases the attack and defense points of one of my Fiend-type monsters by 300. Now that La'Jinn's power has escalated to 2100 attack points, he can defeat your dragon and deal you 100 points of damage!" The genie fired a magical blast at Hobson's monster, blasting Hobson slightly. "I'll set this card face down and end my turn."

Hobson drew. "Ahaha! This monster can wipe out that crazy genie- or should I say, these monsters! I summon the Goblin Elite Attack Force, with 2200 attack points!" A strike team of five armored goblins appeared, and Hobson chuckled. "Goblins, destroy his genie!"

Asgore flipped up his trap. "I activate Reinforcements! This Trap card reinforces my genie by five hundred attack points! And now, La'jinn is the more powerful monster once more!" All five goblins were knocked into oblivion by La'Jinn's magic, and Asgore couldn't help but feel proud of him.

Hobson shrugged, and Asgore could swear he heard Hobson's shoulders cracking. "Don't get cocky, O Great GoatLord. This duel is only just beginning!

* * *

 **So, Asgore is back! YEAH! There's a filler idea! Okay, but seriously, this was an amazing idea! Once again, huge thanks for everyone else for supporting me this far, hope to see the support continue. Of course, I now must reference the abridged series to prove my return.**

HOBSON DUEL BIG WHITE GOAT MAN

 **Yeah. That's it. Sorry, I couldn't resist. :)**


	20. Watching from the Shadows

**For the most part, I haven't been writing these as often because of school. Harsh stuff. Algebra, history, literature... Man, I wish I could've gone to Duel Academy instead.**

 **Anyways, this chapter features the resolution of Asgore V. Hobson, a quick peek into the Shadow Realm, and, like, my fourth Battle Fade in this fanfic.**

* * *

 **Chapter Twenty**

 **Watching from the Shadows**

As much as this is something that has eluded the minds of most people who have written about the events of the Battle City Tournament- and, at the same time, wrote of different participants, as I'm sure things are different in their end of the multiverse- I only feel it right to remind you of what those duelists whose souls had been banished to the Shadow Realm could possibly be doing. So that is where we shall pick up, with Mako trying to remain optimistic, Ishizu hitting herself and questioning how Frisk could have changed the future shown by the Millennium Necklace, a bunch of Rare Hunters feeling that this was what they'd deserved for failing Marik, and Undyne just doing everything in her physical power to try to escape, to no avail.

Ishizu put her hand to her forehead, almost as if sick or exhausted. "It's... impossible! The Millennium Necklace is never wrong!"

Undyne turned around, and locked her eye with both of Ishizu's. "With Frisk, you never know what point in time is going to be true or not. That kid's changed the future more times than I can count!"

"Perhaps, but then, the Necklace should have shown me the future of the current timeline, am I right?"

"You're just over-thinking this."

"Well, at least I'm not the one trying to use a magical _spear_ to break out of the Shadow Realm!"

"Hey, I'm not the one who cheats by seeing the future, punk!"

Mako rushed in, trying to seperate the women, to no avail. Instead, their small battle held him back. He thought of so many ways to stop either, before realizing that they wouldn't work with the other. He felt like even the stormy seas could be far less dangerous than this situation, but all these two were thinking of was proving points.

He finally managed to pull both out with a little speech, and this got their attention.

"Hey! I know we have not been here long, but we do need to find a way out. Unfortunately, our own power may not be enough. I know you two have loved ones who you have to protect, and while I can't say the same about myself, I still feel like I should be there to help support the duelists trying to save the world. Which is why we can't just start fighting! Using force to escape isn't the answer, and I think the only way out is to be freed. So, let's support our friends in their duels, to win us not only our freedom, but our hopes, our dreams...our friends. We need to save those who need saved before we save ourselves. Let us roar like the ocean, charge like sharks, and slip through the grasp of evil like an eel, and help rescue those who gave so much to rescue us!"

Undyne and Ishizu, and also a large number of Rare Hunters, listened to that speech with unwavering attention. The two girls realized that this skirmish was absolutely pointless, and a few of the Hunters even decided that Marik needed to be stopped by some means, even if he was their boss. Ishizu realized that this was absolutely ridiculous and would get her nowhere near helping Marik. Undyne even came to terms with her own shadows, realizing that saving both Marik _and_ Frisk was far more important than her own escape. The thought of rescuing both a psycho and a pure megalomaniac was a little much... but she knew, her entire soul knew, that this was the only way. Somebody had to save both of them.

And Chara and Yugi might just be the duelists to do the job.

* * *

Meanwhile, in our realm, the duel between Asgore and Hobson had grown quite heated. Asriel was broken with confusion, Kaiba was enraged that Hobson had turned on the Pain Mode, which was only meant to be used if things got serious, and Yugi could do nothing but watch. Neither duelist had begun to back off a bit, and, though the effects of Reinforcements had worn off at the end of Hobson's move, he had no monsters, while Asgore still retained La'Jinn. Knowing that he had an ally in the glowing genie, he drew, hoping for another great ally. He was not disappointed.

"I summon my Exarion Universe, in Attack Mode!" A large, centaurian creature holding a staff in one hand and a shield in the other appeared right next to the genie. "And now, Exarion, attack!"

Hobson let out a slight chuckle. "I play Battle Fader."

 **(I don't know if you've noticed, but Battle Fader is one of my favorite cards.)**

As Exarion's charge ground to a halt, a black monster with a single pendulum attatched to it appeared. Of course, this was a card that the Dreemur kids knew perfectly well, but it still shocked their _father._

"What does that card do?"

"It negates a direct attack," Hobson explained, "and summons itself from my hand. However, I now have to banish it when it leaves the field."

"Quite clever, actually. I almost had you."

Hobson drew his card. "Well, how clever is THIS? I discard my Dandylion from my hand in order to special summon the Tricky in attack mode, and then, using Dandylion's effect, summon two Fluff Tokens to the field. But if you thought I was done, think again! I sacrifice Battle Fader and the Tricky, banishing my Fader in the process, in order to Tribute Summon my ultimate monster... Metaphys Armed Dragon, with 2800 attack points!"

The wyrm that now stood before Asgore looked almost spirit-like, but it was there. And, of course, Hobson had pulled it to defeat Asgore quickly.

"Now, Metaphys Armed Dragon! Destroy La'Jinn!"

The dragon did so, and, as such, the genie vanished- but no sooner had Hobson ended his battle phase, he returned, when Asgore discarded a card named Kuribohrn. Then, the King of Monsters drew, and saw his chance.

"I attack one of those Fluff Tokens with Exarion, and use his effect! By cutting his attack by 400, he can pierce through your defenses, and since Fluff Tokens have no defense points..."

Hobson flinched at 1400 damage. All else Asgore did that turn was Set a card, but then Hobson made the mistake of triggering it.

"I'll draw... and destroy that terrible genie once more!"

"I don't think so. I activate... Dimension Reflector!"

"WHAAAAAAAAT?"

Now, some of you readers may be uneducated in the art of the Dimension Reflector, and as to what it does. Well, to put it short, by banishing two of your monsters, you summon a monster with the same attack points as one of your opponent's monsters... and deal them damage equal to that amount. So, Asgore targeted Hobson's Metaphys Armed Dragon, and took out his life points in a flash.

* * *

Seeing the finishing move on screen, and hearing Hobson tell Asgore that the blimp was heading to Kaiba Island, Chara cheered. Frisk groaned. Asriel looked like he was beginning to calm down. And Toriel... She decided that, maybe, it was time to give old Gorey a second chance. _Maybe._

Asriel slowly began to return to his normal state, but stopped on some sort of middle ground. He looked very similar to his usual look, with the addition of the metal shoulder pads, black cheekstripes, and long horns from his transformed state. His eyes were beginning to return to their usual reddish-brown color, though, and his clothing had returned to the green-and-yellow striped shirt that Chara always thought was a bit too similar to her own. Azzy ran over to the screen, and smiled, jumping up and down in good old Asriel Dreemur fashion: "That's my dad! That's my dad! I knew he could do it!"

 _Yep,_ Chara thought silently, _the old Asriel's back, alright._

* * *

Even in the Shadow Realm, people were cheering for what had happened mere seconds ago; Mako, for the sake of an amazing duel, and Undyne that her old battle instructor was as good a duelist as a fighter, even if he was a total weenie when not trying to defend his family. Ishizu remained silent, but Undyne knew that she was proud, too, to see Asriel's return to peace. If only Undyne could get out, because she wanted to remind Asriel of one important aspect of dueling. And it didn't involve _her_ deck.

* * *

 **Hoo, boy, now that _that_ one's out of the way, I think... I think I'm ready for Joey versus Marik. Fingers crossed that this'll be a good one, guys.**


	21. The Tombkeeper Strikes Back

**FINALLY, I've gotten around to starting this duel up. After researching Joey's deck, Marik's terrible cards (some of which, in this chapter, are not used by him in the anime OR manga), and all of Ra's effects... I'm ready. 'Course, I couldn't finish it so soon, so I'll put on the second half sometime in the coming week. For now, enjoy!**

* * *

 **Chapter Twenty-One**

 **The Tombkeeper Strikes Back**

Finally, it was time for Joey Wheeler and Marik Ishtar to compete in the quarterfinals of Battle City. Each duelist shuffled their deck many times over, before finally stepping back to face each other and play the gosh darn game already.

It didn't take long for Marik to bring the forces of the Shadow Realm into this mess, but Joey seemed perfectly calm. Asriel sighed. "If only I was dueling for more than justice. Maybe that smile on Joey's face would carry over to mine..." He looked at Undyne's deck, and it seemed... wrong. Something was off about the deck he was holding, and yet it felt the same way his had during the tournament, after Papyrus had given him the Monarchs. It just... didn't seem right. "Oh, well. At least the duel's starting."

Indeed it was. Joey drew his hand first, and began to play. "I think," the blonde said, "I'll play two cards face down and summon my Battle Warrior in attack mode! Your move, Marik!"

Marik drew. "I summon Revival Jam in Attack Position. Now, my slime, consume his warrior!"

"Hold up!" Joey said, triumphantly. "I reveal my face down card, Skull Dice! This'll let me cut the attack power of your monster by one hundred points for each o' those spots that comes up!" A small, almost wind-up demon carrying a red die flew forward, rolling the die when it stopped. It landed with four dots facing up.

"Yeah!" Joey said. "That'll bring your jam's power from 1500 to 1100, Marik! Maybe won't save my warrior, but it'll sure cut the damage!"

 **JOEY:7600**

 **MARIK:8000**

"Very clever. For a fool, that is."

Joey's face contorted in rage. "Oh, we'll see who's the fool. Here's a hint- it's the guy who thought he could just 'beat' Joey Wheeler."

Marik's eyes rolled. "You have a higher opinion of yourself than that prideful skeleton in the stands. That's so pathetic."

Kaiba turned to Papyrus. "Oh, yeah, I forgot. We need to have a rematch for what happened in your house the other day."

Papyrus smirked. "OH, WE'LL DUEL AGAIN, ALRIGHT. AND THE RESULT WILL BE JUST THE SAME, EVEN IF I DON'T USE MY BROTHER'S DECK. IN FACT, I WOULD SAY THAT WAS A LIMIT."

Marik set a card, and then it was Joey's turn. He drew, and picked a card out of his hand. "Here's somethin' that'll take out that blob of slime. I summon my Axe Raider in Attack Mode!"

"I knew you would do that."

"Wha-"

"So I had THIS ready!" Marik flipped over his set card, which turned out to be a trap. "Bottomless Trap Hole! It automatically destroys a freshly-summoned monster with 1500 or more attack points and removes it from the game. Time to banish that muscular monster!"

Joey barely had time to react as a hole opened up below his warrior, and it fell in. Joey shook his head. "Man, you play rough. I hadn't expected that. You're pretty good at this, Marik."

From the stands, Tristan fell back in shock. "Did Joey just compliment Marik? Are we dead and in heaven already?"

Asriel turned to Tristan. "Oh, it's fine. I always give at least one compliment to a powerful opponent."

"And this is Marik we're talking! That's just..."

Joey turned to Tristan. "Shut your mouth. It's a fact, not a compliment."

"Sounded like one to me."

Joey frowned. "Well, I set another card and end my turn."

Marik drew. "I summon my Archfiend Soldier! With 1900 attack points, this monster is more than capable of dealing a massive hit on your life points. Now, ATTACK!"

"I activate a Quick-Play Spell! Go, Scapegoat!" At Joey's command, four small, round sheep appeared on the field, all of them with zero attack or defense points. "See, these Sheep Tokens are gonna keep me and my Life Points safe while I whoop you, Marik!"

"Well, you can say goodbye to two of them now," Marik pointed out. "Both of my monsters are attacking."  
"Ignoring that, I still have two. And that's gonna be all that's necessary."

Marik smiled. "We'll see about that. For now, I set one card and end my turn."

Joey drew. "Whaddya know! The card I drew is Monster Reborn! Come back to the field, Battle Warrior!"

Marik laughed, his evil grin now wide with amusement. "Go ahead! Bring back the monster with only seven hundred attack points! What good will that do you?"

Joey smiled. "It's gonna give me a head start at beating you, Marik! I sacrifice my Battle Warrior to summon Jinzo in attack mode!"

"WHAT?"

"Fat chance o' your face down, Marik! If it's a trap (which I'm positive it is), Jinzo will keep it down! Tough luck! Now, Jinzo! Attack his Revival Jam!"

The cyborg blasted the slime into pieces, but, unlike usual, the pieces didn't disappear. "What gives, Marik?" Joey asked?

 **JOEY: 7600**

 **MARIK:7100**

Marik chuckled. "It appears you don't understand the 'REVIVAL' part of Revival Jam. When you destroy it, by paying one thousand life points now, I can bring it back once my next turn begins."

Joey facepalmed as Marik suffered the damage. Then, the slime appeared on Marik's field once Joey ended his turn, after Marik drew a card to mark it.

"I activate Double Summon! This lets me summon two monsters in one turn. That won't matter, though. I summon my Flash Assailant."

"Not bad," Joey said, "but how's he gonna stop Jinzo?"

"HE isn't, but the other monster I'm summoning is! Now, I sacrifice my Revival Jam, Archfiend Soldier, and Flash Assailant!"

Everybody gasped. Kaiba began to speak: "He's summoning-

"The third God Card!" Yugi finished. And it was true... but unexpected, as all that appeared on Marik's field was a massive sphere.

"Behold!" Marik shouted. "The WInged Dragon of Ra, in its Sphere Mode!"

Joey rolled his eyes. "That ain't a dragon! I can show you a dragon on my turn."

"Oh, you'll see. Come my next turn, I will chant a passcode of sorts, and this sphere will turn into a monster with 4000 attack and defense points, far more than any single card in your deck could ever fathom. Now, Joey, make your move! It had better be a good one... oh, who am I kidding, you'll never be able to slay Ra."

Joey drew, the card that he did draw being a bit less useful for the situation. "Urgh. I'll just set this guy and put Jinzo in defense mode."

Marik smiled. "Oh, look. It's my turn. Time to come out, Ra!" Silence fell about the field as Marik began the chant to awaken the dragon.

""Great beast of the sky, please hear my cry! Transform thyself from orb of light, and bring me victory in this fight! Envelop the skies with your glow, and cast your rage upon my foe. Unlock your powers from deep within, so that together we may win! Appear in this Shadow Game as I call out your name, Winged Dragon of Ra!"

The giant golden orb began to open, and the halves of the sphere became like wings for a giant, bird-like dragon inside of it. The dragon roared, and everyone in the arena, apart from Kaiba and Marik (and, for some reason, Frisk), was utterly terrified. It looked like Joey was doomed to lose.

And there it was. The Winged Dragon of Ra, in all of its glory, stood before Joey, its very presence unsettling to be facing. Joey looked at Marik. "So... You're takin' out Jinzo?"

Marik laughed. "Why would I shoot straight for your monster when I can destroy it now? I activate Ra's effect, paying 1000 life points to wipe out that miserable trap-stopper."

Ra blasted Jinzo with energy, and then its target was no more. "And I'll do it all again with your set monster," Marik continued. "Ra, fire!"

One blast from the Winged Dragon of Ra was all it took to take out Joey's set Swordsman of Landstar. "TWICE MORE!" Marik commanded. He used another two thousand life points to eliminate the Sheep Tokens."

Joey fell back. "N...No way! Those guys were all I had!"

"And your Life Points are about to experience a world of damage! Now, Ra, attack directly!"

 **JOEY:3600**

 **MARIK:2100**

Joey felt like he'd been hit by, like, a truck. That was a lot, and, while Joey still had more life points, Marik could wipe out any card he summoned and then blast him with Ra for the kill. An Egyptian God Card was a powerful weapon... but all weapons have a weakness. If only it were found...

* * *

 **Oh. My. Goodness.**

 **Actually, I don't know how on earth Joey could possibly save himself here. Then again, he is Joey, so he's got luck, He'll probably draw, like, Time Wizard or something. In the meantime, as a side note(and I probably should have said this twenty chapters ago), I do NOT own Undertale or Yu-Gi-Oh. If I did, then maybe Asriel wouldn't have become a flower again in the real game.**


	22. A Brotherhood's End

**I'm not going to say anything, except that I've changed the rating to T because of character death. I'm sorry, but I felt like I couldn't, well, you'll find out.**

* * *

 **Chapter Twenty-Two**

 **A Brotherhood's End**

As Joey and Marik dueled, the many souls of the Shadow Realm were worried for Joey's safety. For the most part, those who had never seen the Egyptian God Card (which was pretty much everybody except Ishizu) had no idea how powerful of a monster Marik could possibly wield. And those who weren't in the Shadow Realm were even more terrified. Actually, Frisk seemed perfectly calm, and Asriel was screaming out about the awesome monster he was seeing, but virtually everybody else was panicked.

Marik chuckled. "Time's running out, Joey. You have no way to keep yourself in this duel any longer. Do you want to give up NOW?"

Joey crossed his arms. "At least I have my friends to back me up. But you wouldn't understand; the only friends you ever had are the ones you forced to like you!"

Yes. Yes, he just said that. Kaiba was actually (regretfully) proud that Wheeler had pulled that insult. Perhaps his next cards could save him. Joey drew.

 **JOEY:3600**

 **MARIK:2100**

"I activate the spell, Card Destruction! This card's gonna reset our hands, Marik, so I hope you had cards you'd be fine with gettin' rid of!" Joey drew his new hand. Hey, these were some cards he could use. "First, I'll use my Mystical Space Typhoon to kill that Trap Card. Then I play Foolish Burial. I can send a monster from my deck to the Graveyard, and I pick my Blue-Eyes White Dragon!"

Marik laughed. "You're facing an Egyptian God, and you _destroy_ a Blue-Eyes? And here I thought you were a _good_ duelist."

Kaiba smiled. "At least SOMEONE shares my opinion."

Joey smirked. "Don't think too soon, Marik. I set one card and end my turn."

Marik drew. "I play the spell card Reckless Greed. This lets me draw cards for my next two turns right away!" Marik took the cards, and smiled. "I set one card and attack you with Ra directly! You're done!"

"Not quite!" Joey looked confident. "I play my Trap Card, Nutrient Z! This card gives me 4000 extra life points to withstand a powerful attack! That damage from Ra won't happen thanks to my Nutrient Z."

"I see. I end my turn."

Joey drew a card- and smiled. It was Pot of Greed, the card that might win him the duel. Of course, it could give him something absolutely worthless for the situation, with another something absolutely worthless. Imagine getting Baby Dragon and Swordsman of Landstar... That would ruin the whole thing. He just didn't know if it was worth it.

Marik smiled. "While you think, I'll activate the continuous trap card, Coffin Seller! This card will deal you 300 points of damage whenever you lose a Monster Card."

And then there was Marik... The guy was totally unpredictable. If Joey slipped up once, Marik could infiltrate his plans and it would cost Joey the duel. Argh, what would Yugi do? Wait...

"You're pretty skilled, Marik. I respect your skills. Not you, obviously, but you've got nice moves. But there's one thing you're not countin' on... My deck." He looked at Asriel, almost as if sending a signal to him, too. "I built this deck myself. I used cards I won in tournaments, cards my friends gave me, and cards I acquired myself. I'll bet you had your staff build your deck. And even if they didn't, I've got something you're really not gonna expect. Because even if you built that deck, there's something missing... your touch. Even that Blue-Eyes from before... I've got a connection with it now, because I planned er' with my deck. Like Yug' says, if ya' don't put your heart into the deck, well, you're not gonna get really far."

All at once, the speech his Asriel like an aftershock from an earthquake. No wonder his deck in this tournament hadn't felt right. It was because HE hadn't built it! And the deck in his pocket felt even more wrong, because he hadn't put anything into it. Undyne had- it was probably the reason she did so well with it, actually- but he hadn't. Joey, and, by that logic, Yugi, had the right idea. Asriel decided to build a new deck after the duel was over. Even if it wasn't very good, having his touch could be just what he needed to get a good win.

"And since I believe in my deck," Joey said, "I'm confident that I'll get somethin' good from... THIS! Go! Pot of Greed!" A large green pot appeared on the field. "Usin' this spell card lets me draw two cards, and if one of em's the card I need, Marik, then I'll prove your stupid God Card can be beaten!"

"What are the chances you'll draw a specific card? You're desperate, Joey."

Joey smiled. "I'm serious, Marik." He drew the cards... and smiled. The first card was his Time Wizard. Since Ra wouldn't take that crud, he wasn't exactly sure about that one, but the other card was the one he wanted.

"It's over, Marik. I start with my trap, the Call of the Haunted! Usin' this, I'll call back Blue-Eyes White Dragon!"

Kaiba was about to snap. "Are you insane, Wheeler? I gave you that card, but now you're acting like it's able to beat a god!"

"It's not gonna, Kaiba. But my other card might. I summon..."

Suspense. Silence. Nobody knew what Joey could be planning. Then, he spoke.

"Copycat."

All at once, the word smacked itself into Marik's face. Copycat! How had Marik not noticed? He had gone through Joey's deck just that evening, and he hadn't noticed that card! If he had, he could have crushed Yugi before by copying Red-Eyes. Even worse, he now remembered that he hadn't taken back that deck, so Joey could still have a Hinotama in there. That was a minor issue, though, as the mirror wizard appeared on Joey's field right next to Blue-Eyes.

"Copycat's effect lets it copy the attack and defense points of a monster on the field, and if I copy your Egyptian God Card, then it gains 4000 attack and defense points! Now, Copycat, attack Ra!"

"They're equally matched... so both will be doomed!"

"That's right, Marik. And don't even think your Coffin Seller's gonna do much, because I'm about to win this! Now, Blue-Eyes, let's test just how much of a punch you pack! Go, White Lightnin'!"

This particular Blue-Eyes, who seemed to recognize Joey as her new master, leaned back and fired, wiping out Marik's life points. It wasn't even necessary to use full force. Marik screamed a loud "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" as the white lightning struck him down.

 **JOEY:3300**

 **MARIK:0000**

Joey jumped for joy. He'd done it! That was really close, but somehow, he'd done it. It must've been that teaching that Yugi and his gramps had given him. The heart of the cards? Yeah, that was totally it. He looked at his cards. "Thanks, guys. This is your victory too, y'know."

* * *

The energies of the Shadow Realm attacked Marik,but he seemed unharmed. It seemed that only the evil part of his soul had been cast away. In the shadow realm, Yami Marik fell- and landed right next to Ishizu and Bakura.

"You should have learned that controlling someone else only gets you hurt from the spirit of the Ring," Bakura said.

"You should get comfortable, 'Marik'." Ishizu's smile was evident. "At least we'll be rescued by our friends. You'll be lucky to even get room service."

* * *

Asriel had learned valuable lesson from the experience. It totally fit with why he'd been feeling off about his de- sorry, UNDYNE'S deck. He realized that, even though one or two cards from Paps could have helped, a whole half of a deck totally ruined it. And a whole deck... Yeah, he'd been an idiot.

* * *

Despite the good times, though, everyone else had forgotten about a crucial factor. When Marik lost, he stood up and ran straight to Frisk. He seemed the way he had when the tournament had begun, but he was panicked. "Please!" he shouted. "Don't do it! I'll repay you! I'll..."

Frisk was unmoved. "Mercy plea? Oh, please."

Sans chuckled. "dont'cha mean, oh, _pleas?_ "

Frisk didn't even respond to that. Instead, she pulled a knife out of her robe, then laid a soul on a bleacher. Nobody knew whose soul it was.

Nobody except Marik.

"NO!"

Frisk threw the knife downward, not even caring what people thought of her anymore. Calling her a murderer at this point wasn't a fitting title. It was an understatement. The knife sunk itself into the Soul, and Marik could only cry out in horror...

...as he lost the only friend he ever knew.

* * *

In the ER, Odion's vital signs went blank. Chara, Asriel, Kaiba, Yugi and Joey had absolutely no idea what had just happened. But it didn't take long for Alphys to figure it out.

"Odion was Marik's sole companion. If what I think is true, then Frisk killed him because Marik didn't win. It was an incentive for his victory... so Frisk could take the Egyptian God Card for herself in the semifinals. Chances are, he might be contemplating suicide or s-something!"

` "Wait," Joey said. "Does that make me a murderer?"

"In a sense," said Frisk, who walked in without even knocking. "After all, you won the duel."

"B-But if I'd known-"

"Shut up. You may have acquired the Winged Dragon of Ra, but without ties to Egypt, it's useless. The only way Alphys could wield it was because she had help from the spirit of an actual Egyptian."

"You didn't answer my question. And you're a real sicko. Man, killing a guy just because what you want didn't happen..."

"Actually, I wanted you to win. I hadn't killed anyone in so long, and I was looking for a reason to do it again. Keep your head up, Joey, or it could happen to you, too. And I plan on holding a Shadow Game with my opponent. Not for keeps... but to kill."

Silence filled the room. None of the seven finalists inside spoke a word. Then, Frisk left. Asriel turned around.

"So... Who's laying him to rest?"

Joey bowed. "I figure it'd better be me. Guess I've gotta apologize to the guy anyway. I was partially responsible for his death, anyhow. Kaiba, could we make a pit stop in Egypt? There's been so much drama, y'know, and we all could use a break..."

"...Fine. We need to dispose of the body, anyhow."

"Is that all you think of him?"

"Forget it. We're leaving him in Egypt."

Kaiba then grabbed his walkie-talkie. He left before talking into it. "Mokuba, could you please take off before Wheeler gets back?"

"But, Seto, he has an Egyptian God Card! I thought you wanted those!"

"Argh. I hate it when you're right. We just need to give the victim a fast burial..."

Chara stepped behind him. "Not happening. After all, Joey's gonna take his time, whether you like it or not, and Marik's probably gonna be with him."

* * *

Deep in the desert regions of Egypt, one might have guessed that the two travelers were a tourist and his guide bringing an exhausted companion to a water hole. No such luck came for the unlikely duo of Ishtar and Wheeler. They found a place near the home of the former, and dug out a large hole in the ground.

"That was some duelin', y'know. I wouldn't have tried so hard if I'd known your friend was at risk." The look on Joey's face was sorry, as if he wanted to go back and convince himself not to play Copycat. Not like that would have worked, knowing himself.

"He was more than that, Joey." Marik let his tears show. "He was my caretaker. In a way, I would have called himself my brother." He paused. "You know, I'll have to ensure that my sister, Ishizu, gets a long talk with Dreemur when she gets back from a little... vacation I sent her on."

Somehow, even Marik's own joke didn't lighten the mood. It just seemed like this was the turning point... and not for the better.

"Joey, promise me something."

"Huh?"

Marik looked into Joey's eyes. "For our sake," he said, "you must stop Frisk. I was a threat. She is much more. After seeing what's happened to Odion..." Tears fell into the sand. "I think you have what it takes to stop her."

"But I can't even use the Egyptian God Card I won from you."

"That's true," Marik said. "But neither can she."

The two blondes stared at each other as they lowered Odion's body into the hole. "Odion, you were a noble servant," Marik said, crying. "You would have given my life in place of yours. If I could do it all over again, I would have done the same."

Joey nodded. "And I'm sorry. If I'd known that beating Marik would've cost you your life, I'd have let him win, even if it meant I would lose my soul. It would be better to be banished to the Shadow Realm than to win at the cost of another."

"And I'm sorry, too," Marik added. "For not being a better master... or brother. Judging by recent events, your brief leave was perfectly acceptable. I just wish I had time to say... I'm so sorry." Tears fell from the blonde Egyptian's face. "May Sekhmet and Anubis have mercy on your soul, my friend."

"Who're they?"

"Other Egyptian gods. They weren't truly made as cards, but they may as well have. Hold on, I have a card based on Anubis, actually... Never mind." He stood up. "Well... Time to fill the hole. And meanwhile, I feel I should explain Ra's summoning chant, for if you ever do need to use it."

"Alright," Joey said. "I'm all ears. What's the first lesson?"

Marik thought, then let out a sly smile. "Make it rhyme."

* * *

 **And so, the first half of the finals comes to a close, but I felt like I had to write it like this. After all, for all the evil that's possessed Frisk, she's a girl of her word.**

 **Next time, the third round of the finals. Either two Dreemurs fight, or one takes on an Egyptian God... but they'll also face Seto Kaiba, who's ten times worse. So, big thanks to the crowd for keeping this story going, and I'll see you next time.**

 **OH, yeah, the moral of the story? Sometimes actions have consequences... That's all I could come up with.**


	23. To Deck, or Not to Deck

**Sorry I haven't been active for a while, I've been grounded for so long... Word of advice, always do your homework. Anyways, here's the next (rather short) chapter, leading into quarterfinal duel 3.**

* * *

 **Chapter Twenty-Three**

 **To Deck, or Not to Deck**

The blimp took off again, from its worldwide pit stop, in order to resume the tournament. Kaiba didn't seem to care about the funeral or anything. He only cared about his tournament. And if Mokuba hadn't reminded him that the Winged Dragon of Ra was in Joey's hands, he wouldn't have cared to pick him up.

He turned to the machine that had dispensed the entry numbers. He'd activated it while Joey and Marik were burying Odion. First was Frisk versus Chara, then him versus Asriel. And in the meantime, he could crush that skeleton who had beaten him in the tourney. If Papyrus beat Kaiba, it was a fluke, considering he wasn't in the finals.

But in the meantime, the other finalists were prepped. Marik, for example, was shoeing Joey something with his stick. Kaiba normally wouldn't eavesdrop, but there wasn't much else to do.

"What are you up to, Ishtar?" he wondered aloud as he turned up the volume.

"So," Marik said, "I'm going to try to redeem myself. As a first step, I'll release the souls of the people me and my Rare Hunters snatched." Marik raised his rod into the air, and it then glowed.

"Please," Seto said to himself. "More of that magic mumbo-jumbo? If I see more of tha-" He was cut off by Marik suddenly stopping.

"Where is she?"

"Who?" asked Joey, puzzled.

"My sister. I'm combing the Shadow Realm, but I can't find her soul!"

Then, Frisk walked into the room, grinning evilly. She stared at Marik. "Looking for something?" She then proceeded to hold a soul in her hand.

"Give her back. Now."

"Stop being so pushy, Marik," Frisk said. "You don't want your sister to meet the same fate as your aide..."

Something about that statement made Joey snap. He stood up straight, marching towards the girl.

"AIDE? I'm sorry, but that guy was more than an aide to Marik. He was like a brother!"

"I'm sorry," Frisk added, "it's just that you seem to care a bit too much about what happened to that tattooed freak."

"Tattooed freak? FREAK? Is that all you think of him?" By now, Wheeler had gone into full Rage Mode. This could get interesting. Kaiba hadn't seen Joey mad at anyone but himself, and this surpassed any of those moments. "I heard you met Odion before and cared about him! Where's that Frisk? Mokuba told me you asked Kaiba for help finding your friend! Where's that kind girl who put others before herself?"

"Joseph, think to yourself, did that girl ever exist? Or was she just a facade?"

"Okay, slow down. One, let's not do the whole Joseph thing. And to answer your question, NO! I really don't think you're the same Frisk who Marik says he gave those Evil Heroes to. That one was kind, gentle, even, at times, silent. I once found mysself the subject of pure evil, and I came to my senses."

"I'm not the subject of pure evil. I AM pure evil!" And with that, Frisk turned around and left the room- only to promptly bump into Asriel.

"Watch it, flower boy."

Asriel turned to his friend-turned-psycho. "Frisk, think about this. You're making a huge mistake."

"No, I'm not. And if you're looking for your loser deck, I stuffed it inside Undyne's Rare Hunter robes. Not like you'd use it, considering you stole from her to get a finals-ready deck..."

"Careful what you say, buddy," Asriel said, his face lighting up. _Even if Frisk didn't include Papyrus' Monarch cards, then I might still have a chance_ , he thought.

From the security room, things weren't so hopeful for him. Besides, Kaiba had seen Asriel's loser deck in action. It was worthless in a fight, an unusual mix of playful and wimpy with random chance. There was nothing worthwhile that deck could do...

"Seto, are you thinking about how bad Asriel's deck is going to be?"

"What else could I think about, Mokuba? In fact, it's the worst deck I've ever seen."

"Well..." The younger Kaiba thought, then spoke. "Remember back when your deck was like that?"

Something about those words smashed itself into Seto's skull. He'd been so focused on how good his deck was, he'd forgotten that once, his deck was just as horrid as Asriel's.

"Seto, I've got a challenge. Put yourself in his place."

"What do you mean, Mokuba?"

"Build a deck using only one of your Blue-Eyes White Dragons and a bunch of low-power cards, and win against Asriel."

Seto glared at his brother. "Why on earth would I do that?"

"You spent so much time crushing people, you forgot what it's like to be them. Think about it, Seto." Then, the black-haired shortstop walked out of the room.

* * *

Asgore knocked on the chopper's door, and looked at the driver. "We've got our next destination. Set a course for KaibaCorp. Island."

"Wait, Asgore..." A slightly weak, but still firm call came from the window of the hospital nearby. "Take me with you!"

Asgore looked through the window, half-expecting Undyne to be missing her other eye or something. But, even soulless, she'd looked fine when he glimpsed her. And now, she looked almost perfect.

 _Well,_ he thought to himself, _she recovered quickly._

"Come on," he said. "We're going to miss the finals if you're any slower."

* * *

"Mind if I come in?"

Mokuba looked up at the rosy-cheeked girl who had knocked, still unsure of what to say.

"Seto's busy," he said. "He'll be out soon."

"I heard he wanted to make a new deck, like, an AVERAGE deck," Chara said, suspicious. "Is he feeling okay?"

"No, I just gave him a challenge. Let's see how he handles it. In the meantime, you're dueling Frisk soon, right?"

"I actually didn't forget, I just thought I'd check in." The way she said it, it seemed like somebody actually cared about the well-being of his brother. He'd never noticed that much from anyone but Yugi... and Seto himself.

"See you on stage, Chara... if my bro's finished by then, that is."

"Don't worry. He'll figure it out."

* * *

The main platform, thus far, had been the site of so many happenings that night that it wass completely impractical. It was the site where a Millennium Item was revealed, where a father revealed that he still cared, where an unlikely candidate earned an Egyptian God Card, and where the soul of a good man was shattered. Indeed, this stadium was the site of several important events, and one of the biggest might go down right here.

The two Dreemurr girls eyed each other suspiciously. In a way, they were both demons: one by re-birth, one by nature. And now, the two would bring the full might of their power in the greatest battle of good and evil the two had ever fought... and they were on opposite ends of it, for once.

"I hope you're ready for a one-way trip to death, Chara," Frisk said, ready to blow Chara into next Tuesday.

"If I can help it," Chara declared, "I'd gladly lose to bring back the Frisk that saved my brother, his family, and her friends."

"That girl is gone, just a memory. And I'm afraid that things are about to become just the same for you."

"That's your dream," Chara decided. "Now, I'll make mine become a reality." Th young demoness wanted to say more, but was cut off by the battlefield's loud, mechanical whine, and the two were raised up to the very height that two Egyptian God Cards had already been played at.

Rolund the guide stood straight up. "I want a fair match, so real quick... No abuse of SAVE files, or snatching the other's SOUL during the match." It was clear that he knew a little something about Determination- or was it Sans projecting the words? Never mind.

"I'll also not condone the use of cards that make bad things happen. The skeleton on the deck there has told me of a few that the future might hold, and, as such, the use of the Seal of Orichalchos field spell,among other cards of its sort, is STRICTLY prohibited for the safety of everyone here.

So Sans _was_ involved. And considering he could percieve different parts of the timeline, that card might be a REALLY big deal (and also the subject of a sequel series, but I'm not at liberty for that right now).

"Finally, Mr. Kaiba has informed me that the following torture devices are unusable: The Shadow Realm, Pain Mode, and physical contact."

Frisk glared at Rolund. "Then what torture devices ARE allowed?"

"Trash-talking is still a valid option."

"Okay, forget it. Let's just do this."

* * *

 **And so begins probably the most intense duel I'll ever include. Wish me luck, guys; I'll need it.**

 **Side note: I had originally planned a different sort of finale, but that wouldn't work well with Marik releasing Undyne's soul, so I changed it.**


	24. Double Demon Duel

**A warning: This chapter contains graphic elements like blood, evil, plot twists, and card games. To avoid further harming your brain, please consult your subconscious before reading...**

 **LOL**

 **But seriously, there's blood in this chapter. Read at your own risk.**

* * *

 **Chapter Twenty-Four**

 **Double Demon Duel**

The Dreemur siblings had always cared for each other, bonded together, and eaten cinnamon-butterscotch pie together. That's why this duel was so important. Frisk had gone against everything that she and her siblings had worked for. So it was now Chara's turn to save lives.

"I'll start with my Winged Dragon, Guardian of the Fortress #1!" Chara said, as a dark green dragon appeared. "Now, I'll activate my Dragon's Treasure card, boosting its attacking and defending power by 300 points. Your move."

Frisk shrugged. "Oh, alright. I draw." One loook at her card, and she was automatically smiling. I start with my Skyscraper 2: Hero City! This lets me bring back any Elemental Hero monster destroyed in battle once per turn. Then, I summon Elemental HERO Sparkman in Attack Mode!"

"Why attack?" asked a confused Chara. "Sparkman can't take out my Winged Dragon."

"Not unless I play... Spark Blaster! By equipping this card to my Sparkman, I can give him a tool that can change the battle positions of your monsters up to three times! I think I'll fire it at your dragon now, actually."

"What? Okay, I'll hand this one to you; that was pretty clever."

"I know, right? Anyways, Sparkman... Attack!"

Sparkman fired a huge ball of electricity at Chara's dragon, destroying it. She was actually kind of glad the dragon was in defense mode, but the duel was far from over anyway.

"I'll set this card face-down, and pass to you, sis. Now's your chance to strike back!"

Chara drew. "I summon Red-Eyes Retro Dragon! Now, I'll use it to attack Sparkman!" The dragon attacked, but Frisk interrupted.

"Go, Trap Card! A Hero Emerges! Since you're attacking me, you have to choose one random card from my hand for me to discard. Thing is, if it's a monster, I can summon that card instead, so choose wisely."

Chara looked at Frisk's two-card hand- or, rather, the back of said hand. She thought long and hard, then chose the card on the right.

"Lucky," Frisk muttered. She slipped her "O - Oversoul" into the Graveyard on her duel disk, and then watched as Sparkman and his Spark Blaster joined it, while dealing her 100 damage in the process. It was on.

"Your move, Frisk. Make it count!"

"Oh, I will," the younger Dreemur said, drawing. "I think I'll use the effect of my Hero City to bring back Sparkman from the Graveyard."

"Why?" Chara asked again. "Sparkman STILL doesn't have more than 1700 attack points!"

"Oh, who said this was about Sparky here? I'll sacrifice him to bring in a monster that can destroy your Retro Dragon!"

From the stands, Marik spat out some of the free concessions that KaibaCorp. provided the finalists and their guests. "No!" he exclaimed. "Not THAT card!"

"What card?" asked Tristan and Asriel at the exact time.

"When I first ran into Frisk," Marik said, "I gave her a set of cards known as the Evil Hero cards. One of them is quite similar to Elemental Hero Bladedge (which she already used) by having identical statistics and piercing effects, but has a distinct advantage over his golden counterpart by summoning for one less tribute if your opponent controls a monster."

"Huh?" asked Yugi. "What kind of card are you talking about?"

Frisk smiled. "Now's your chance to find out just how ruthless I can be, Chara! I call on my Evil HERO Malicious Edge!"

A fiend coated in darkness appeared where the shining warrior had once stood- a change in style if I ever saw one. Malicious Edge had sharp claws portruding from his fingertips, and spikes cresting his back. His skin was a dark lavender shade, and his body was covered in some sort of shackle-like confines.

"Now, my Evil Hero, attack and destroy her Red-Eyes Retro Dragon!"

The dragon was ripped to shreds by Malicious Edge, torn into oblivion by the monster's sharp, piercing claws. Chara took it pretty hard, and could practically feel the 900 damage in her face.

"I'm not gone, Frisk. Neither are you, and I'll prove it!" Chara yelled, drawing. She'd pulled her Harpie Queen.

 _She can't take out Frisk's monster,_ Chara thought. _But I'll lose more life points playing her in defense mode than in attack, so I'll have to go with it._

"I summon Harpie Queen," she said, "and then end my turn."

"Pathetic," Frisk said, disapointed. "You've been reduced to playing only weak monsters that can't stop my Malicious Edge. Well, even your Harpie can't take THIS..." Frisk drew. "I summon Evil Hero Infernal Gainer in attack mode, and then start up my fun..."

"What kind of fun are you going to have...?" Chara asked fearfully.

"Oh, loads of it. First, there's Infernal Gainer's effect! By banishing him for two turns, I can make Malicious Edge attack twice from that point on! Hmm... Think I'll do that."

"Then there's Malicious Edge's power," Frisk continued. "While you'll only take 700 damage from Harpie Queen's destruction, there's still the small matter of the second attack..."

Malicious edge slashed at the harpie, but the 700 damage was just a warm-up. Malicious Edge struck again, this time, straight at Chara.

"Oh, and did I mention that I'm not giving a crud about what Rolund has to say? So Pain Mode is hacked onto your Duel Disk for the rest of the duel!"

"WHAT?"

"Chara, did I ever play fair all those massacres ago?"

Chara wished she knew, but before she could answer, Edge struck her right in the face, creating a massive, bloody gash right through her eye. She shut it instinctively as blood leaked out."

"Well? Am I gone, or was I never there? Think quickly, Chara, because you're bleeding pretty bad... huh?"

Chara had begun to chuckle. "So, this is the real you, huh? Wow, you're pretty good at this. At pretending, I mean."

"Do you, by any chance, remember when Alphys and Undyne were first dating? We roleplayed it out for her so she could understand all of that stuff. I have to admit, you were pretty good at it, but the facade of good I saw was what I believed. I guess that was all roleplaying, too?"

Frisk barely said a word. Chara seemed perfectly fine, even though she'd sustained a huge injury.

"I'll have to remind everyone how good at roleplaying you were, once you're gone. Well, I guess there's only one thing left to say once, and darn it, I'll have to plagiarize a YouTube video for this, but it suits the situation perfectly. If you can have fun messing with other people's lives..."

Chara opened her left eye- except it wasn't an eye. It almost seemed like a void with a single ring of red in it, blood pouring out all the while.

" _I'll just have to have fun with yours."_

Frisk stepped back. Chara seemed truly insane this time, and as the green-clad demoness drew her card, the human stepped back. This could end badly.

Chara smiled. "I'll set one and go on, maniac. Now's your last chance to prepare for the end."

Frisk scowled. "I NEVER surrender! I draw... and attack with Malicious Edge!"

"I had a feeling you'd do that."

Frisk's eyes widened. Chara's hand darted to her Duel Disk, where she pushed a button.

"Which is why," concluded Chara, "I set my Sakuretsu Armor trap. Malicious Edge is no more, Frisk."

Frisk groaned. "Uhh, Sans? Got a bit of a problem here..."

"good. now you know how _she_ feels."

All at once, it hit Frisk like a Truckroid at high speed. Either Chara was acting, to show what Frisk had been doing this whole time, or she truly had lost it and was probably more revenge-crazed than Kaiba. This was TOO FAR.

Frisk shuddered. "Well, then, since I control no monsters, I Special Summon Evil HERO Infernal Prodigy! Then, I'll sacrifice it to call on Elemental HERO Necroshade, and end my turn. And since I sacrificed Infernal Prodigy to summon a HERO monster, I get to draw a card." She drew- the card she drew being Neos- and seeing as she could only summon him during her Main Phase, shook her head. "Your move."

Chara drew again. "I play my Black Stone of Legend card! Using this, I can send it to the Graveyard to call on any Red-Eyes monster from my deck! I call on Red-Eyes Black Flare Dragon, and activate my Supervise card to give it it's Gemini Effect without summoning it a second time!"

"Crud."

Chara laughed. "And that's not all; I've hacked on your Pain Mode as well, Frisk! I'll attack Necroshade with my Black Flare Dragon, and use it's effect to deal 2400 extra points of damage!"

FRISK: 4700

CHARA: 3800

"I'll set a card," Chara said, "and end my turn."

Frisk drew. "First, my Infernal Gainer returns to my side of the field. Then I play my Necroshade's ability! Since he's in the Graveyard, I can summon a high-level Elemental Hero without a sacrifice! I think now's the time to call on my ace... Elemental HERO Neos!" At her call, Neos emerged from her hand, ready for battle. "Then, I'll play the effect of my Hero City, calling Necroshade back to the field! So, welcome back, buddy." Necroshade joined Neos and Gainer on the field, all three of them in Attack Mode. None of them were about to go out so easily.

"Now, Neos! Attack her Red-Eyes Black Flare Dragon!"

Chara laughed. "HAHAHA! Did you forget about my dragon's effect? You take 2400 points of damage, Frisk!"

"Darn."

"uhh..." Sans pointed out, "it's scorching one- _liners,_ not one- _worders_."

"I know, Sans," Frisk said. "At least the dragon's out of the way..."

"No, it's not."

"What?"

"While you two were busy talking, I activated my Red-Eyes Spirit trap! Now, my Black Flare Dragon is back! And besides, my Supervise got sent to the Graveyard, so I can summon one Normal Monster from said Graveyard! I'm welcoming back my Winged Dragon, Guardian of the Fortress, in defense mode!"

"Crap."

"Yeah. It's my move, right?"

"Not so fast, weird-eye. I'm still attacking your Winged Dragon with my Necroshade to destroy it. Then, I'll set a card. Your go, Chara."

Chara smiled in a psychotic way as she drew, her sweater now stained with her own oozing red lifeblood. "I summon my Red-Eyes Black Flare Dragon again, engaging it's Gemini mode! Now, it's effect is back, Frisk, and while I could destroy either of your other monsters, I'd beat you faster sacrificing my dragon and attacking Neos! Now, go! Inferno Flare!"

Frisk stepped forward. "Wait! I play my Hero Barrier! This'll negate the attack that would end this duel!"

Chara muttered something under her breath, then sighed. "I guess it's your move, you little psycho."

"Actually, that's what's been bothering me. You keep telling me that there's someone good inside of me, that someone other than me was in control." She clutched her next card carefully. "But if there's one thing that this duel taught me, it's that I'm not that girl. That girl is a part of me. My innocence, kindness, hope... That's all been part of me this whole time.

Chara looked at Frisk, who kept talking. "It's odd," she said. "When I first fell, all I wanted was revenge. You showed me another way. So now, I'm embracing that part of me, Chara. So I've been acting like a total psycho the past few weeks, and I even killed a guy. The past can be past, if you're willing to forgive me."

Chara stared at Frisk. The cut on her face looked to mend a little... then tore open again.

"There's no forgiveness for what's happened now, Frisk. Just hatred."

The cut tore farther down, finally stopping at Chara's cheek. Blood was now visibly flowing from the girl, but she didn't seem to mind. The cut might not have been from Malicious Edge; these were just holograms, after all. What it had come from was much more sinister... Chara's soul finally going off the wall.

"Don't be upset, Frisk, this is what you've been asking for the whole time. You just wanted us to be together, huh?"

Frisk stepped back, drawing. "Chara, you spent this entire duel trying to free ME. Now it's my turn to free you."

"Huh?"

"I play Exchange! This lets each of us take one card that our opponent holds and add it to our hand. You'll have to take my Clayman or Burstinatrix card, which have not much use to you. But whatever I take, I'm going to use it right.

Chara held out her only card. And, sure enough, it was all Frisk needed: the Relay Soul trap. As Frisk grabbed the mighty trap, she could feel that this duel was won. Chara took Clayman, ready for whatever the heck he'd be needed for.

"I set one card," Frisk declared, "and end my turn."

"Well, then, it's time for your demise, Frisk!" yelled Chara as she drew. "Red-Eyes Black Flare Dragon! Attack Neos and end this duel!"

The dragon was destroyed, but suddenly the afterburn was stopped. Elemental HERO Burstinatrix had appeared to block the aftershock, coated in a mystical energy field.

"What?" screamed Chara. "But how?"

Frisk smiled. "Relay Soul, that's how. Since your dragon's effect was about to destroy me, I activated it to prevent any damage that would come my way, as long as I entrust the remainder of the duel to Burstinatrix's safety. If she goes, so do I."

Chara stopped short, setting a monster. "Darn it, Frisk, you're making it difficult."

Frisk drew carefully. It was time to save her sister once and for all.

"Your psychoticity, if that's even a word, is going to end once and for all. Now, Neos, attack her face-down monster... Clayman!"

Chara was taken aback. "What? How'd you know?"

"It was obvious, actually. Now, Gainer, Necroshade, and Burstinatrix, team up for the final strike!" Frisk couldn't think of a good attack name, so she decided to wing it. "HEROic Triple Destruction!"

All three heroes, good and bad, struck hard- but none of them hurt Chara; Pain Mode had been disabled. And with that, the duel was finally over.

Chara began to get up, her eye mending itself slowly; VERY slowly. Frisk could see threads of flesh tying themselves back together.

"Why... All I wanted to do was save people..."

"You could have made things worse," Frisk said.

Chara groaned. "And to think I entered this match trying to SAVE you..."

Frisk let out a sly grin. "I think you already did."

"ARGH!" Kaiba shouted. "I've had it with this tournament being treated as family bonding time and whatnot! Rolund, get Chara to the infirmary." He turned to Asriel. "You. Me. Duel. Now."

"But-"

"NO BUT'S!" He turned to Yugi and Joey. "I want to see your Egyptian God Cards in my deck by the end of this tournament, or my name isn't Seto Kaiba!"

"Oh, yeah?" Joey said. "Then what IS your name?"

* * *

To make a long story short, Chara and Joey spent the night in the infirmary together.

"What happened to your face?"

"I went psycho. What happened to your everything?"

"I teased Kaiba."

"Ouch. Hey, there's a TV in here. I wonder if Azzy's dueling right now?"

"Cool down, we'll see."

And, as the two turned on the TV, they saw... two duelists, shuffling their decks, ready to fight.

* * *

 **And so ends yet another crazy duel in this fiction. This one, I really wanted as one chapter, unbroken. And Supervise and Infernal Gainer were two cards I had to keep looking back up to read their effects properly. Anyways, that's gonna wrap up today. Next up: A crazed CEO VS. a goat. I don't know who's going to win, but if I weren't the writer, and if I could be biased, I'd root for the goat.**


	25. Dragon's Heart, Dragon's Strength:Part 1

**It's been so long since I uploaded a chapter for this; I've been doing other things. And with Christmas just around the corner, I figured: Why not? Besides, I've FINALLY compromised with myself to let Asriel keep Caius, but to balance it, have Kaiba's deck just as strong as before, if not stronger. Prepare for trials, hardship, and more than likely a usage of Battle Fader.**

* * *

 **Chapter Twenty-Five**

 **Dragon's Heart, Dragon's Strength: Part 1**

It was time for the last Quarterfinal duel of the Battle City tournament. The two competitors, as usual, were shuffling their decks and staring at each other. But, for once, it wasn't good versus evil, even if in the first round the evil was concealed. No, this duel was a test. Asriel had grown over the course of the tournament, and facing Seto Kaiba was the ultimate test of his skill.

Asriel drew his hand as Kaiba drew his. The two stood there for a while before Kaiba gave an icy stare at Rolund.

"Why... is THIS... in my deck?"

"Mr. Kaiba, your brother decided to edit your deck shortly before the tournament began."

"But isn't that tampering with one's deck?"

"Ahem," Rolund said, clearing his throat. He clearly didn't want to get involved, and Kaiba had no choice to give up the argument. "The fourth round of the Battle City finals will now commence. The host of the tournament, Seto Kaiba, will face the underdog, Asriel Dreemurr, in the match that will be the last in this tournament for one of the-"

"GET ON WITH IT," Kaiba yelled.

"Fine. Mr. Kaiba gets the first move."

Kaiba smiled. If he just ignored the card Mokuba gave him, it'd be alright. He just wouldn't have to play it at all, or let his opponent see it. Sure, that'd make it a dead card, but as long as nobody noticed...

"I'll start with my Lord of Dragons, in attack mode," announced Kaiba." Sure, his attack points are only 1200, but I needn't worry about that, because I now play the Melody of Awakening Dragon spell! By discarding one card, like my Vorse Raider, I get to add two of my Blue-Eyes White Dragons to my hand."

Asriel stared at Kaiba. "Why would you summon the Lord of Dragons," he asked, "if you had a more powerful monster like Vorse Raider in your hand already?"

"Because," Kaiba finished, "I'm activating the spell card, Flute of Summoning Dragon! By playing this flute, the Lord of Dragons can call two powerful dragons from my hand! So, I'd like you to meet Blue-Eyes number one, and Blue-Eyes number two!"

The two Blue-Eyes White Dragons appeared on Kaiba's side of the field, both intent on blasting Asriel with all of their might. Mokuba fell back in his seat. "But Seto!" he exclaimed. "You told me you were going to make a new deck!"

"I did," came the elder Kaiba's response. "I've created a deck that can destroy anyone I choose, weak or strong! What, did you think I was seriously going to water down my deck for the finals?"

Mokuba facepalmed. Of all the things Seto could've done to his deck, of COURSE he had to beef it up further. Why was the thought of the guy doing something nice even a possibility?

"I'll set one card," declared the president of Kaibacorp, "and end my turn."

Asriel drew carefully. The card he drew might be a bit helpful. "Not terrible," he decided. "I'll summon my Opticlops!"

Frisk gasped. "But that's his best non-tribute monster, and he's throwing it against Blue-Eyes! He's gonna be doomed!"

Kaiba chuckled. "Fine! Just summon all the monsters you want, because none can withstand ME!"

Asriel smiled. "Well, they won't have to. I'll activate the spell Enemy Controller from my hand!"

"WHAT?"

"You heard me," Asriel said, smirking. "I can use this card in one of two ways. Either I switch the battle position of one of your monsters, or... sacrifice one of mine to take one of yours for the turn!"

Yugi gasped. Frisk smiled. Even Marik obviously thought this move was well played. As Opticlops vanished, one of Kaiba's Blue-Eyes appeared in its place.

"Time to kill two birds with one stone!" Asriel announced. "I attack your Blue-Eyes with the one I just snatched!"

Kaiba smiled. "You triggered my trap."

"WHA-"

"And now you'll pay! I activate my Ring of Destruction trap! This lets me destroy one monster on the field, dealing us each damage equal to the monster's attack points, and I choose... the Blue-Eyes you're attacking me with!"

Asriel pulled another card from his hand. "Joke's on you, Kaiba! I activate my Quick-Play Spell, Ring of Defense! Using this, I can block any effect damage from one of your cards!"

Frisk chuckled. "He usually uses that card to get out of Flame Wingman's cannon fire. Looks like he's using it to make Ring of Destruction harmless!"

Kaiba smiled. "So what? Not only is my Blue-Eyes still safe, so are my Life Points, thanks to YOUR Ring of Defense. And without a monster to protect you, you're hopeless."

Asriel shrugged. "Then I guess," he said, "I'll have to play two cards face-down. Your go."

Kaiba drew. "Oh, look. Another card I can mop the floor with you using." He slipped the card into his Duel Disk. "I activate Cost Down!" he announced. "By discarding a card from my hand, I can cut the level of all of my monstrs by two for the turn. And that means that THIS Blue-Eyes," he finished, "is gonna come out for one less Tribute! Goodbye, Lord of Dragons... hello Blue-Eyes!"

Asriel fell back in shock. Once again, Kaiba had two Blue-Eyes White Dragons. And I should remind you that his strongest monsters had 2800 attack points- most of which currently weren't in his deck. The only one he'd kept was Mega Monarch Caius, who STILL couldn't defeat Blue-Eyes, despite potentially banishing it. Even if Asriel drew The Monarchs Stormforth, the only Monarch-related SPELL still in his deck, Kaiba would just find a way to bring back Blue-Eyes.

Kaiba chuckled. "Looks like it's lights out! Good thing, too. I'm afraid it's time you were put to pasture."

Papyrus crossed his arms. "YOU CAN'T SAY THAT! SANS ALREADY USED THAT JOKE IN THIS TOURNAMENT!"

Frisk shrugged. "Technically, it wasn't in the _tournament..."_

"I GIVE UP."

Kaiba laughed. "It's over, once I equip Blue-Eyes with the spell card Megamorph! If I have less Life Points than you, Blue-Eyes' power becomes doubled! And to do that, I'll play my Lullaby of Obedience, paying 2000 Life Points to declare a monster in your deck and add it to your hand. I'll choose a card that I know you have... Granmarg, the Mega Monarch!"

Asriel shrugged. "Nice try. I took Granmarg out just before this duel started."

"Wha- Well, at least I have less Life Points than you, which means Megamorph goes on. Say goodnight, puffy. You could never defeat someone who had talent. Blue-Eyes, attack with White Lightning!"

Asriel reached towards the underside of his Duel Disk. "Someone who had talent? I think I AM someone with talent, and I'll prove it! Go, Draining Shield!"

Everyone gasped.

"That's right. I've got some good cards since entering this tournament," Asriel announced, "and I'm going to use them well. See, Draining Shield converts the damage from your attack into Life Points. So I just got six thousand extra Life Points from your attack!"

"WHAT?" came Kaiba's reply. This was impossible! How did Asriel of all people get his hands on a Draining Shield? Kaiba growled. "Fine. I attack with my OTHER Blue-Eyes."

ASRIEL: 11000 LP

KAIBA: 6000 LP

"Your move, runt."

Asriel drew a card. "Heeeey, nice. I summon my Double Coston."

Kaiba laughed. "Double Coston? THAT'S how you plan to defeat my Blue-Eyes?"

"I wasn't done. I'll activate my other Set card now... the Ultimate Offering! This Continuous Trap lets me pay 500 Life Points to summon additional monsters each turn. So, I sacrifice 500 Life Points Double Coston to summon... CAIUS, THE MEGA MONARCH!"

Everyone gasped. Alphys was skeptical.

"Umm, guys," she asked, "..isn't Caius a, like, level eight or something? How can Asriel summon him with only one tribute?"

"IT'S QUITE SIMPLE, DR. ALPHYS," explained Papyrus, who usually wouldn't be the one to speak up here. However, when it came to dueling, he actually knew a lot. "SEE, WHEN A DARK MONSTER IS TRIBUTE SUMMONED, DOUBLE COSTON CAN BE USED AS TWO SACRIFICES!"

"What's more," Yugi realized, "is that Double Coston itself is a DARK monster! Asriel can use Caius' effect!"

Toriel stood up. "YES!" she exclaimed. "That's my bo-" She realized what she was doing, and sat down. "I'm sorry, my dears, I just got a tad excited."

"Yeah," Tea mumbled, "just a tad."

Asriel smiled. "As the audience pointed out, since Caius was Tribute Summoned by using the DARK-attribute Double Coston, not only does he need no more sacrifices, he can use his effect: I banish your two Blue-Eyes White Dragons and deal you 1000 points of damage!"

Kaiba stopped cold. "No."

"Yes," Asriel declared. Now, Caius, attack Kaiba directly!"

Kaiba growled. "I... I can't lose to this runt! How can I-"

"Big brother!" Mokuba yelled. "Play the card I gave you!"

"No. I can't-"

"JUST DO IT, OR YOU'LL LOSE!"

"FINE," Kaiba yelled. "I'LL PLAY THE STUPID KURIBOH!"

Everybody froze in shock. So THAT was the card Mokuba had given Seto? Kuriboh?

Silence.

Then, extremely heavy laughter.

"SHUT UP," Kaiba yelled. "Just because I'm playing a card doesn't mean I want to."

Asriel was beside himself in his humor. In fact, his black cheek-stripes were looking shorter already. "Oh, my gosh, this is too good. Seto Kaiba? With Kuriboh? Oh, if only Mettaton were here to report this..."

Kaiba stared Asriel down. "Not. Another. Peep."

Asriel chuckled. "Oh, come on, live a little! This duel is almost over anyway! To be honest, I'm kind of surprised, with my deck-"

"Shut it," Kaiba yelled. The CEO drew his next card. "Heh. Looks to me like this duel is just starting!"

* * *

 **I only just realized that even without a theme, Asriel could do pretty well, apart from, y'know, Mushroom Man and Cyber Commando. He's essentially the beatdown player in my cast, not counting Kaiba himself. But, of course, his opponent is Seto Kaiba... who's just declared that a whole new sort of duel is about to unfold! How's it gonna play out? Find out next time!**


	26. (BONUS)The Dueltale New Years Preview

**Happy New Year! And it's also my birthday! So, to commemorate, I'm making a sneak peek chapter for the second season of my most popular story. It'll obviously be posted in a second fic, so stay tuned for that! And there are some other extras that I'll address in this chapter, so without further ado, here's the Second Season preview!**

DUELTALE S2 SNEAK PEEKS!

 **From Chapter ONE: Dueling Advanced**

Chara was right. Tristan WAS improving. At this point, Frisk was VERY outforced. And it was about to get a whole lot crazier.

"I sacrifice my Lava Battleguard together with my Roboyarou, and summon my Serpent Night Dragon, in Attack Mode!"

"Serpent Ni- But that card was a tournament prize!"

"That's right," Tristan told Frisk. "I've done better than you thought! Now, I attack you directly!"

Frisk thought fast. "I don't think so! I activate 'A Hero Emerges!' You pick a card from my hand, and I summon it!"

Tristan froze. Frisk knew that, if he hit Neos, she'd have the game won. Tristan bit his lip, and picked...

"Too bad."

He had chosen Neos.

* * *

 **From Chapter TWO: A Spell by Any Other Name**

Undyne hadn't yet seen such a powerful card. This was one spell, alright.

"And what would I have to do to get this card?" she asked the man who had given it to her.

"It's simple," the man said. "Help our cause, and the Seal is yours. We could use you well, given your experience, to awaken the great beast..."

"No way," Undye said, taking her hand back. "Even if I get a good card, there's no way I'd hurt my friends!"

"You won't be thinking about it, if it's in your deck. That's all your goal will be."

"Then I'm not taking it," Undyne decided. "The Seal of Orichalcos is evil, then; you just said it."

"If you won't help us," the man said, chuckling, "I'll have to make sure you don't warn people."

The door shut tight behind her. She rushed over and tried to open it, but it was totally locked.

She was trapped.

* * *

 **From Chapter FIVE: Misguided Mother**

"What are you doing, Mom?" asked Asriel, panicked. "This isn't you!"

"I'm afraid I can't let you do this. Too many people will get hurt." The look in Toriel's eyes was firm, but her mind was definitely not in the right place.

"Listen to yourself! More people will die if the Leviathan is unleashed than if not!"

"My child, you must understand. What I am doing is entirely for your own good. If you continue to oppose me- oppose US- then I will have no choice but to stop you with force."

Asriel looked at his hand. It looked perfect, but his heart didn't want his mother to fall. Nonetheless, there were only two sides to the conflict: good and evil.

"I can't let this happen, Mom. I'm sorry."

Toriel's face fell. "So am I." She pulled a card from her hand, sorry that she would have to use it against her own son. "I have no choice but to activate... the Seal of Orichalcos."

A bright green light shone from the card, as well as from the jewel around Toriel's neckl Suddenly, the Seal itself appeared on the ground. It grew til' it encircled both Dreemurs. Asriel turned around and tried to back out; but the Seal created a barrier that kept him from leaving. He turned back to his mother, who was now grinning in a manner that she probably never had before. An image of the Seal began to glow on her forehead.

"Now, my child," she said darkly, "I think it's bedtime."

* * *

 **Obviously, that's a lot to take in. For one, Tristan's actually a better duelist. Second, more Undyne, if you wanted that. And the big one; Toriel, not only dueling but on the side of Doma for some reason! I'll have to explain it later.**

 **But I'm not done yet, because I have more: A side story's announcement, a quick glimpse at my plans for the series' future, and the special thanks have yet to come through!**

 **The side story in question is a project I call KaibaTale. It's after the events of DuelTale's upcoming second season, but, in a twist, Frisk finds that Seto Kaiba is re-living her memory! And, of course, this could very well change Kaiba's worldview.**

 **In the future of Dueltale, post-Season Two, I'm not going to write out the Dawn of the Duel arc, as that arc in my opinion is a lot more forgettable; the only things I really remembered were Yugi's independence and his duel against Atem. (And that last part, I'm going to have to showcase.) Instead, I might re-write the first season; there were so many errors pointed out by Mernom that I'll have to make a Dueltale Revised. And, of course, there's a HUGE treat to fans; Dueltale: The Abridged Series will become part of my post-season 1 lineup!**

 **Finally, special thanks to: Mernom, who helped me learn from the mistakes I made in my first story EVER; my brother Timothy, who stood by me for the whole story; Kazuki Takahashi and Toby Fox, who created the two stories this fic is based off; and, of course, Ulrich362 for overwhelming support through everything, and thoughts on every chapter I've uploaded so far.**

 **And for some random questions: 1: Who will win? I can't disclose that, but, because this is my story, it DOESN'T have to be Yugi. Hey, for all I care, it could be Frisk or Joey.**

 **2: (somerandomperson) "** if you include gaster in this, can you give him the wicked god cards pls" **No. I'm not planning on using Gaster at least until the second season. And the Wicked Gods didn't play a part unless you read the "Yu-Gi-Oh R" manga, which I'm pretty sure was Japan only. So, no Wicked Gods for Gaster.**

 **And 3, from myself: Are Yugi, Kaiba, and Joey going to be the ones to recieve the Atlantean Dragons? To that I say: I don't know. Yugi, definitely, and Kaiba, most likely. But Joey could be a different story; I guess we'll see.**

 **In conclusion, 2017 was an amazing year, and I hope we can get more good work done in 2018, so here's to a (hopefully) eventful year!**

 **Sincerely,**

 **-Gabe**


	27. Dragon's Heart, Dragon's Strength:Part 2

**Oh. My. Goodness.**

 **I haven't updated this story in a whole month! SHAME ON ME!**

 **But I feel like I should explain. First, I had to edit the last duel because I lost count of Asriel's hand and gave him one more card than he should have (I had to cut out a Magical Mallet scene to fix it). I apologize for that. Second, the plot of this fic has become so convoluted, it makes less sense than the rules of Duel Monsters in season one. See why I have to revise this thing now? It's madness!**

 **But in all honesty, this duel has had a massive improvement over the past few, so it actually seems nearly plausible till the end.**

 **Once again,I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh or Undertale. If I did, then this story would be a lot less confusing.**

* * *

 **Chapter Twenty-Six**

 **Dragon's Heart, Dragon's Strength: Part 2**

* * *

 **KAIBA: 5000**

 **ASRIEL: 10500**

Seto Kaiba looked at the card in his hand. He chuckled. This could get interesting.

"I activate my spell, Card of Demise!" he said. "This'll let me draw until I hold three cards, so long as I discard my hand at the end of the turn." Kaiba, in accordance with the said Card of Demise, did just that. He then grinned.

"The cards I hold," he told Asriel, "are the ones that'll spell your defeat! I set all three face down, as to not lose them to Card of Demise. I end my turn."

Asriel smirked. "This is too easy!" he said as he drew his card. _I should probably worry about his face-downs, though,_ was his next thought. He eventually shrugged it off and added his new card to his hand. "Now, Caius, finish him! Shadow Strike attack!"

"You IDIOT," Kaiba said, in perfect mockery of Asriel's... past self. "I play the Trap card, Shadow Spell! I can shackle one monster on the field, and cut its attack points by seven hundred... so it looks like Caius is going nowhere!"

Asriel grimaced; he knew full well that Kaiba had a plan, and he blew his moment.

"In that case," he said, "I'll end my turn."

Kaiba drew- and smiled. "I play the spell Soul Release!" he said. "This lets me banish up to five monsters from either Graveyard, and I'll use it to banish my third Blue-Eyes, along with your Coston and Opticlops!"

Asriel scratched his head. "Why banish your Blue-Eyes? It's the best card in your Graveyard, so why?"

Kaiba's grin grew. "So I can do THIS!" He began to laugh hysterically as a Trap on his side of the field, on Shadow Spell's left, flipped up, the image being several monsters falling out of a portal.

"What's that?"

Sans shuddered upon seeing the card. He'd had bad memories of this one, for sure.

"...return... from the different dimension."

"What?" asked Yugi, still confused.

"that card..." Sans said, his voice shaking with concern, "lets the user pay half of their life points... to bring back any banished monsters possible."

Kaiba smirked. "Way to go, numbskull, you get a cookie for being so smart," he said sarcastically. "Anyway, with this, all three Blue-Eyes re-join me!"

The three dragons materialized on Kaiba's side of the field. Asriel had stared down three Blue-Eyes White Dragons before; during his first duel with Sans, obviously. But not only did he NOT have his Swords of Revealing Light on the field this time, Kaiba had summoned all three, when they had been banished, with only one card! Granted, it had also cost him 2500 life points, but STILL...

"Now, Blue-Eyes number one, attack his Monarch!"

Caius shattered as the White Lightning hit him. Kaiba laughed. "I can't believe you thought you could really stand to me! Now, my other two dragons, attack his Life Points directly!"

Asriel threw his hand to his duel disk. "I reveal my Battle Fader card!" he said, revealing another card he had won. (And that I like shoving into these duels. It's practically a staple card.) "This monster swings onto the field to end your Battle Phase when you declare a direct attack!"

Kaiba narrowed his eyes. "Well played. I'll have to congratulate you for actually having a few good cards," he told the Boss monster. "But just because you stopped my dragons doesn't mean I'm done yet!"

"How?" Yugi asked, surprised. "According to Return from the Different Dimension's effect, his Blue-Eyes are going to re-banish themselves!"

"Very observant, Yugi," Kaiba said in his usual, sneering tone. "But I'm not done. Next, I play the face-down Pot of Greed!"

Asriel gasped. "Pot of Greed?"

"I knew I'd lose the cards I drew from this if I played it in the same turn as Card of Demise," he said. "So I was saving it for now! And thanks to the dark power of this card, I have two more cards to defeat you!"

He looked at the cards he had drawn. _Yes,_ he thought. _This is going PERFECTLY._

"I activate the Spell card, Polymerization!" declared Kaiba, a nasty grin plastered onto his face. "And with it, I combine my three Blue-Eyes White Dragons into one unstoppable beast!"

"No!"

"I think you'll really hate what's coming next," Kaiba announced. "I Fusion Summon the card that'll bring you down! Behold, BLUE-EYES ULTIMATE DRAGON!"

Asriel stepped back. A key difference between his duel against Sans and the duel against Kaiba was skill. Not to say Sans was a bad duelist; just that Kaiba was the best of the best. He had a better deck AND strategies than almost anyone else here, save Yugi.

But, in the cocky CEO's mind, he WAS the best. Everyone was in suspense. He was the strongest duelist in the world, and everybody else knew it.

After all, he _was_ Seto Kaiba.

He laughed at the struggling monster, who was reaching his hand to his deck purely out of fear. "I... I draw!" the kid said, frightened at Kaiba's raw power.

He looked at the card he had drawn. Sure, it might not be the most powerful, but it WAS a good card to use.

"I Set a monster," he said, "and end my turn."

Kaiba grinned. "You're playing the weakling. And I like it. It gives me a chance to trash you more than ever!" He drew his next card, laughing. "And your trouble's just beginning... I summon a monster in defense mode."

"Are you kidding me?" Azzy asked in frustration. "That's the sort of move you just taunted me for!"

"True," Kaiba said. "But, the card I've just drawn will be the one to cause your end!"

"It can't be!" Yugi said, suddenly panicked.

"It's gotta be!" Frisk said, still calm under such pressure.

Marik finished the thought. "The third... Egyptian God Card!"

Kaiba gave a huge grin. "Just my luck," he said. "The loser brigade can do math."

Asriel stopped short. "Okay, can somebody PLEASE clue me in on those things?" he asked. "Because I've seen two already, and I have no idea what the big deal is!"

Kaiba burst out laughing. "OH, MY GOODNESS!" he hollered. "A Battle City finalist who DOESN'T know the full power of the Egyptian God cards? This is TOO EASY!"

Asriel scratched his head. Yep. He'd missed something.

Kaiba smirked. "But then again," he added, "if there's not SOMEBODY who's been living under a rock all this time, then what world would this be?" He raised his hand. "Now, GO, my Ultimate Dragon! Neutron Blast!"

The Blue-Eyes obeyed, firing a laser at Asriel's face-down monster, A small, magenta blob appeared, and was split in half. No sooner had it split, though, than the two halves materialized into clones of the monster.

"What?" Kaiba asked, bewildered. "I destroyed that monster! How did it duplicate?"

"I guess you don't know EVERY card," Asriel said firmly. "This one is Marshmacaron, and when it's destroyed, it doubles, whether the extra Marshmacarons come from my deck, hand, or Graveyard!"

"Ugh," Kaiba said, annoyed. "This is why I hate little things. They're annoying. And that goes for both you AND your monster. I end my turn.

KAIBA: 2500

ASRIEL: 9600

Asriel drew. This duel was not going his way. If he could only draw... the right card.

He picked the top card from his deck, and, upon seeing it, smiled.

"This duel's about to go to a whole other level, Kaiba!" he declared. "I play MY Pot of Greed to draw two more cards!" He picked the next two cards from his deck, and added them to his hand. He grinned. "Now I play the spell card, Exchange!"

Another "WHAT" came from most of the crowd.

"Oh, that's right!" Toriel remembered. "I wanted to encourage my children to use cards they were unfamiliar with, and those of their siblings, so I gifted all three a copy of that spell!"

"And you couldn't have told us this BEFORE?" Tristan said, somewhat angered. "I thought it was just Frisk!"

"No, Chara had one, too. And Asriel, as you can see." she explained. "And I seem to remember Alphys playing a copy-"

"Oh, my gosh." Tristan facepalmed. "I'm surrounded by loudmouths!"

"And with this, we'll each take one card from our enemy!" Asriel explained. "We each only hold one card, so that's what we'll take. I'm giving you my Dokurorider card... but there's only one thing YOU can give ME."

 _NO!_ thought Kaiba. _That runt... CAN'T take Obelisk the Tormentor! He CAN'T!_

"I'm ending my turn, Kaiba. You're up."

Kaiba drew angrily. "I summon Spear Dragon!" he declared. "This is going to deal piercing damage! Now, attack his Battle Fader, and cut his Life Points!"

"Not so fast!" Asriel declared. "See, I knew I couldn't defeat your dragon head on, even WITH Obelisk. So I decided... the best thing to do would be to do away with it altogether!"

"Excuse me?"

"Since I don't exactly have Mirror Force, that'd be a tricky thing to do. But what I DO have is a flooding trap that'll achieve the same purpose!"  
"Out with it!"

"Go! DROWNING MIRROR FORCE!"

As Asriel declared this, his trap revealed itself. Kaiba was in shock.

"Dr- Drowning Mirror Force? But HOW? You're supposed to be the weak one!"

"And I'm not. See, while the regular Mirror Force would destroy your monsters, this watery variant sends a massive wave that washes them back into the Deck from whence they came!"

Kaiba threw his hands to his head. This COULDN'T be happening!

Asriel drew. "Huh. Whaddya know." He smiled. "Now, I set a card... and sacrifice my two Marshmacarons AND my Battle Fader to summon... YOUR Egyptian God card, Obelisk the Tormentor!"

The stadium in the sky shook, as if a sudden wind had caught it off-guard. Thunder roared, despite there being no rain. And then, materializing behind the young Dreemurr... was Obelisk.

He was a sight to behold. A massive, azure-armored warrior, with a head somewhat resembling that of a king. He stood extremely tall- almost beyond eyesight- and had deep, red eyes. The Duel Disk sputtered for a moment, then adjusted to accomodate for the Egyptian God Card. It showed Obelisk's mammoth ATK total: four thousand.

Asriel felt a surge of ancient power. It was almost overwhelming. _So this is the power of an Egyptian God Card,_ he realized. _I'm not sure if I can handle it, but I'll have to stay strong!_

"Obelisk, attack his face-down monster!" Asriel shouted, suddenly fully aware of Obelisk's potential. "Fist of Fate!"

He hadn't expected those last words. He hadn't even known Obelisk's attack name. And here he was, shouting it loud and clear. The card was certainly powerful. It felt more powerful than HIM. And he kind of liked it. Obelisk swung his massive fist at his former master's face-down monster, and with a rush of energy flowing through his body, Asriel couldn't help but punch the air, at the same pace as Obelisk hit Kaiba's face-down: Peten, the Dark Clown, who shattered into a million pieces.

"I... Activate Peten's effect!" Kaiba declared. "I banish him from my Graveyard to summon a second copy from my deck!"

Asriel chuckled. "Whatever! It's your turn!"

Kaiba's hand shook over his deck. Was it really over? Had Seto Kaiba finally been defeated, in his own tournament, no less?

No. It wasn't over. And the card he drew proved it.

"I play the spell, Dragon's Mirror!" he announced. "This lets me Fusion Summon a dragon from my Extra Deck by banishing its materials from my field OR Graveyard! So, once all three of my Blue-Eyes White Dragons are re-banished, I call, once again, upon Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon!"

The three-headed beast re-appeared on Kaiba's side of the field; but Asriel wasn't scared. Even though the monster had more ATK than Obelisk the Tormentor! Was he insane?

"Go! Attack Obelisk with your Burst Stream of Destruction!"

"I don't think so," declared Asriel, with total confidence. "I play the Trap card, Mirror Wall! It cuts your dragon's attack strength in half!"

"SAY WHAT?"

A wall of crystals appeared on Asriel's side of the field. These crystals revealed a mirror image of the Dragon, which Obelisk used to counter-attack the Ultimate Dragon. It was decimated.

Asriel drew again, this time with more than confidence. He KNEW he was going to win. And the card he had drawn would prove it.

"First, I pay 2000 life points to keep Mirror Wall in play," declared the goat creature. "Then, I play Stop Defense! With this, your Dark Clown is no longer in Defense mode!"

Kaiba fell to his knees. "I... Impossible! I can't... lose!"

"Obelisk, attack his Dark Clown," Asriel ordered, "and finish this Duel!"

Obelisk stepped forward.

The ground shook.

He stepped again.

Peten gulped.

Then, Obelisk struck.

* * *

Ten minutes later, Kaiba had still not moved.

"Uhh... Seto?" asked Mokuba, concerned for his brother's safety. "You in there, bro?"

Kaiba said nothing. He simply stood up, turned around, and left.

* * *

Meanwhile, not far from the blimp, a small helicopter was flying towards the same destination.

"Asgore," Undyne asked. "Why don't we just jump onto the blimp? We're so close..."

"One," the king told his captain, "we'd more than likely break our legs, and two, this helicopter was expensive, you know. It's not like the treasury is so loaded that they're easily replacable."

"I guess," she said, letting out a sigh. This was getting them nowhere. But thankfully, neither king nor guard was upset. They both saw a tower, looming in the distance.

The blimp was approaching Kaiba Island..

* * *

 **So... yeah! Asriel won! Did you expect that? I didn't, and I'm the guy who writes this stupid thing!**

 **But honestly, this is just so stressful to write. A re-write with less convolution will DEFENITELY be required. Just look at the endings, sequentially, of chapter 22 and chapter 24. Come back here when you realize that I made a huge mistake.**

 **Then, take note that all three major antagonists have been removed from the story. Marik? Out of the tournament, and not evil anymore. The spirit of the Millennium Ring? Missing after a failed duel against Yugi. (Also, giving the Ring to Alphys and the Scale to Frisk only made the plot more convoluted and had no effect on the actual story.) Even Frisk is good again, even though she's the only one of the three who made it out of the first round of the finals.**

 **Not to mention, with three other stories in progress, and one of them coming out of its first act, I'd say I haven't thought of continuing this in a while. I even forgot to note the LONG hiatus this thing went on.**

 **So, in a nutshell, I will NOT be doing Season 2 off of this version of DuelTale. I'm doing the Revised version FIRST, and then basing Season 2 off of THAT. But I guess that makes this "DuelTale, Season 0?" Eh, not really.**

 **And DuelTale Abridged? Yeah, that one WILL be based off of this fic, for the sake of continuity jokes.**

 **You know, when I started this, I'd hoped it would be big. I didn't expect it to be the number-one fic in both reviews AND words. But, of course, with all of the continuity errors, I have to re-write this sometime. And the rewrite WILL have a different ending than this version, so stay tuned.**

 **Anyways, this A/N has gone on WAY too long, and I need to plan out Kaiba's next stage of unexpected shock. See you later, people!**


	28. A Foursome Finale

**This only took FOREVER to come out... and it's barely started! Sorry about my long hiatus; I've been either grounded or purely off of for quite some time. Anyways, let's get to work!**

* * *

 **Chapter Twenty-Seven**

 **A Foursome Finale**

The first round of the Battle City Finals was over. As could be expected, Yugi Muto had made it through. But that was the only obvious victory, and things had looked grim when he was facing his dueling apprentice. The second duel had been Joey Wheeler versus Marik Ishtar, and Joey had defeated Marik using his Copycat, virtually cloning the Winged Dragon of Ra. After that, it was the Dreemur sisters' turn, and Frisk just barely defeated Chara, saving herself with Chara's Relay Soul card, taken with Exchange. And the most shocking victory? Asriel, the brother of the adopted sisters, and arguably the weakest finalist, defeating Seto Kaiba with Kaiba's own Egyptian God Card. The irony!

As the K.C. blimp landed at the Kaiba Corporation's true area of operations, the four finalists were given the honor, by Mokuba, to walk down the steps first. Seto merely scowled. Not only was he at his father's KaibaCorp location, he wasn't even a FINALIST. And who WAS? A spine-head, a loser, a little girl, and a goat. It seemed wrong.

The four duelists were all then pointed to the tower, each one thinking a different thing about the tournament's ending. And with each duelist wielding a deck all their own, they were ready for anything, even each other.

First, there was Joey Wheeler with his luck-based deck. This deck contained mostly cards that relied on chance, as well as strong cards that were won from intense victories. His ace, at the time, was Gilford the Lightning. Joey felt that, with his deck at his side, he was going straight to the top.

Asriel Dreemur's deck seemed to be held together mostly by victories, yet, in a surprise twist, had become one of the more potent decks of the tournament. His star player had been Caius the Mega Monarch. However, Asriel seemed to be focused on victory at the moment, as opposed to the usual fun.

Frisk, being Asriel's brother, built a different deck entirely, hers focusing on the "HERO" archetype; the Elemental and Evil HEROes specifically. Her favorite card happened to be Elemental HERO Neos, even without all of his Neo-Spacian support. She was feeling somewhat conflicted. She had made the finals, but at what cost? A man's life? Her innocence? Her fondness for others? Truthfully, she felt bothered that she had even fallen for evil like that.

And then there was Yugi Muto, the King of Games himself, whose deck was put together with strategies to slow the enemy, then attack with an ultimate monster. He also had cards that used the opponent's own skill against them, such as Brain Control and Exchange. His most potent card was the mighty Dark Magician, and he wore his deck with pride. He was just glad the world had become much calmer for now.

Behind them were the four ex-finalists, who mostly didn't have much to say. Chara's eye was still bandaged over, but she seemed to have mostly recovered. The obvious rage on Seto Kaiba's face, though, said it all. The finals should have be over, but they weren't, in his mind. No, there was still a large portion of duel that he had to see.

And then there were the guests of the duelists, who, again, had almost nothing to say. They really hadn't played a huge part at all during the tournament, so, of course, they weren't concerned.

Unbeknownst to them, a helicopter containing the Monster King, Asgore, and his guard captain Undyne, was nearing the island itself. The duo had set off on the day of the finals, so they were prepared to watch and wait for the duels to resolve themself.

The semifinals were here.

It was time.

When the four finalists entered the tower, they saw a quadret of lifts, one on each wall. These lifts also had duel mats built in, complete with deck holders and LP counters.

"May I have your attention?" yelled Mokuba, entering the room. "The semifinal round of Battle City's gonna be held in two phases! This first phase will test your skill whilst being attacked from three sides at once. According to this round's rules (dictated by my brother, of course), you will each play with four thousand life points, and once two players hit zero, the first phase will end."

"I think you've also noticed," the younger Kaiba continued, "that you'll be dueling on lifts. That's just my big bro's trick; losing Life Points sends you higher up the tower, and the first two to the top will be in the first semifinal Battle City duel. The two who haven't run out of Life Points yet will duel each other second. Are we clear?"

Asriel, Frisk, Joey, and Yugi each nodded. One by one, they each stepped into their lifts.

"Listen up!" declared Seto. I designed this round to test one's composure dueling at high altitude. You may have dueled on a blimp before, but there, guard rails stood. If, at any point, you wish to hold onto your SANITY, you can forfeit your spot in the finals to a previously eliminated finalist, but you will be considered, then and forever, a giant chicken."

"You listen here, Kaiba," Joey announced. "I ain't no chicken, and I'm gonna prove it!"

"I never said you were," Kaiba added. "But then again, you might want to think twice about what you just said... You're facing the wielders of two Egyptian God Cards, and you don't even know how to use your own. I'd say you have as much of a chance of winning this tournament as you do getting my respect!"

"Let's just get this over with, Kaiba," Yugi said hurriedly. It was clear that he wanted Kaiba to shut up as much as everyone else, but he was less outspoken about it, being Yugi and all.

Speaking of Yugi, Frisk took note of the Millenium Puzzle around Yugi's neck. It seemed to radiate a mysterious aura that made her think that there was more to this boy than met the eye. The pendant seemed... powerful. As if it was a living spirit in itself.

But, as she was thinking about this, her thoughts were confirmed when the object began to shine. The boy seemed to grow, almost losing the "midget" vibe altogether. He now stood just as tall as the others, and had a more determined look on his face, as if he had merged with a more knowledgeable being.

If only she knew that was it!

"Let's begin," Yugi said as he climbed onto his lift.

"Wait a second," Asriel asked. "Did Yugi's voice just change in about 10 seconds?"

Joey shrugged. "You get used to it when you spend enough time with 'im. Yug' defies logic, it's pretty much a fact of life."

"Okay..." the prince responded, still confused, but deciding to go with it. "Who's on first?"

"You should start us off," Frisk said. "After all, you had the most leftover Life Points when your duel ended."

"Fine," Asriel agreed. The lifts took off, and the fuzzball drew his hand. "I guess this face-down monster will do, as well as this card in my backrow. Joey?"

Joey drew his card. "Huh. Guess this'll work! I'm bringin' out Alligator's Sword!" At his command, the reptile swept in, ready to strike. "That's my turn done."

"I guess I'm up next," Frisk said, drawing to begin her round. "Hey, this could do nicely! Here's my loyal knight in shining armor, Elemental HERO Sparkman!" The golden warrior flew into play. "I'm done for now. You're up, Yugi!"

Yugi nodded, drawing. "I summon Beta, the Magnet Warrior in Attack Mode!" The yellow rock monster appeared in Yugi's corner. It was the strongest monster in play at the time.

"Next," Yugi added, "I play this card face-down. I'm done."

Asriel scratched his head. "Well, I can see that you all have strong monsters," he began. He then drew. "But I have a surprise in store for THEM... I activate the Spell Card _Raigeki!_ With this, all of your monsters will say goodbye!"

Yugi threw his hand to his face-down. "I'm activating a card to protect myself," he said. "I play Soul Rope!" The trap card arose, and a tether of light shot from Beta into Yugi's deck. "By paying 1000 of my Life Points, I can summon a new level four monster to replace a monster that's destroyed by a card effect." He searched through his deck, then chose a card. "So I now summon... the Mystical Elf, in defense mode!" As if on cue, a teal-colored elf appeared on Yugi's field, generating a sort of energy barrier.

"Still," Asriel declared, "this opens the other two up for attack. Therefore, I'm now ready to sacrifice my face-down card, Mushroom Man, to summon my Mr. Volcano in Attack Mode!"

Mr. Volcano appeared. He was a tall man, with flames in his hand. His attack total was shown as 2100.

"Mr. Volcano, time to attack!" Asriel announced. "Attack Joey directly!"

Joey flinched as the attack struck him. "That was nothing!" he announced. He then drew... and smiled.

"Nice! I play the Goblin Attack Force! And with 2300 attack points, it can take down anything! So, come on, goblins! Bring down Mr. Volcano!"

Asriel flipped over one of his cards. "I play the trap card Waboku! With this, I can negate any destruction and damage to my side of the field until the rest of the turn!"

Joey crossed his arms. "Thanks a lot! Now my goblins are so tired from that pointless attack that they've switched into Defense Mode!"

Indeed they had. The goblins were fast asleep- without shields!

Seto Kaiba, from the ground level, stared at the duelists. Angrily, he wished that he could be up there, dueling instead of one of those losers. The only reason the kid had beaten him was luck- and the fact that Mokuba had given him a Kuriboh, to a far lesser extent.

The duel was truly on.

* * *

 **So, what do you think of the duel thus far? Well, so far, all I can say is that Joey's losing. And before you get on me for this, I KNOW that the turn order was technically decided by banishing a monster from your deck, but I felt that my way just works better. Plus, it means I don't have to pick a monster for each duelist to not use at all!**

 **Thanks for reading thus far! And now, a special announcement! DuelTale: Reloaded has officially begun! And, unlike this series, it'll begin from the Duelist Kingdom arc! I know it's different, but stay calm, it'll work.**

 **review plz**


End file.
